CALEDONIA, Mich. – The Davenport football team squared off with a big and physical Ferris State squad on Saturday and the second-ranked Bulldogs took a 35-7 win to hand the Panthers their first loss of the season (3-1, 1-1 GLIAC). The Bulldogs simply pounded the ball at the Davenport defense. FSU gained 317 rushing yards on 64 attempts (5.0 ypr) and scored five times on the ground. Quarterback Evan Cummins himself crossed the goal line four times and finished with 77 rushing yards on 16 carries.

The Bulldogs won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. DU went three-and-out gaining no yards and punted to the Bulldogs. FSU was faced with a third-and-14 at their own 31 and Travis Russell completed a short pass to Dion Earls who raced 68 yards down the home sideline to the DU 1 for a huge early play. Cummins rushed for the one-yard touchdown with 12:10 left in the first quarter.

The DU offense could not move the ball much but hung in there thanks to the defense. Brandon Mangram wrestled the ball away from a Ferris State receiver for an interception at the DU 15 with 41 seconds left in the quarter. The first quarter ended with the Bulldogs outgaining the Panthers, 106-7.

Ferris State took over at their own 19 on their first drive of the second quarter and marched right down the field. The drive took 13 plays and covered 81 yards in 6:22. All 13 plays were on the ground for the Bulldogs and Cummins rushed for nine yards for the score and a 14-0 lead with 6:29 left until halftime.

Davenport started to move the ball on their next possession, but the Ferris State defense recorded three sacks to end the drive. DU took it to the FSU 30 before the barrage of sacks against Deondre Ford moved the ball back to the FSU 47.

Ferris State put the game out of reach in the third quarter by scoring 21 points. Marvin Campbell scored on the ground from 34 yards down the visiting sideline to cap off a 68-yard drive in just four plays. The Bulldogs took their next drive into the end zone as well. It was 11 plays and 57 yards in 5:19 and again all plays were on the ground. Cummins broke the plane of the end zone from one yard out with 6:55 left in the quarter for a 28-0 lead.

A fumbled snap on a punt as Davenport went three-and-out, gave the Bulldogs the ball at the DU 8 on their next drive. Cummins found paydirt for the fourth time and the third time from one yard with 4:27 left in the quarter for a 35-0 lead. The Panthers put together their scoring drive in the beginning of the fourth quarter. It was aided by back-to-back penalties by the Bulldogs for running into the kicker on field goal attempts. After the second infraction, DU had the ball at the FSU 8. Ford completed a six-yard slant pass to Nate Couturier for the score with 13:09 left in the contest.

NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Senior Kye Black had a career day and broke his own school record for tackles. He totaled 20 tackles with nine solo and 11 assisted from his linebacker spot. The previous record was 18 by Black set at Michigan Tech in 2017.
- Sophomore Jalen Robinson set a career-high with 10 tackles and also broke up a pass.
- One week after a school-record eight sacks against Lindenwood, the Panthers recorded no sacks against FSU.
- Ferris State had 11 different players carry the football.
- Freshman Kyle Wojahn had a nice day punting the ball with a 39.2 average and a season-long 57 yarder.
- The Bulldogs owned a 36:00 to 24:00 edge in time of possession and ran 77 offensive plays compared to 52 for DU.

POSTGAME INTERVIEW