CANTON, Ohio - The Panther football team started off a long road stretch in style with a 10-6 win at Walsh on Saturday afternoon. It was an old-fashioned smash-mouth type of contest in which the Panthers gained 250 yards on the ground and the Cavaliers had 167 yards. The teams combined to carry the ball 79 times compared to a total of 43 pass plays. The formula worked for Davenport as they won the first meeting between the schools and evened their record to 1-1. Walsh also is now 1-1 overall after a season-opening win at West Liberty.
Walsh converted their first drive of the game into points as Mason Brown booted a 38-yard field goal with 6:21 left in the first quarter. The Cavaliers used 11 plays and moved 55 yards in 5:33 and were aided by a DU penalty on third-and-15 at midfield which continued the drive.
Blake Daniels got the start for Davenport at quarterback but could not find a rhythm in the first two drives. The third drive started late in the first quarter and extended into the second quarter. The Panthers drove to the Walsh nine-yard line but Daniels was picked off at the seven to end the drive.
DU got the ball back after five plays by Walsh and marched into field goal range.
Bryan Plegue connected on a 39-yarder with 2:26 left in the quarter to tie the game at 3-3. The Panthers pulled off an on-side kick to start the second half and that set up the game's only touchdown.
Jaier Harden took a handoff on the third play of the drive and sprinted 17 yards into the end zone for a 10-3 lead.
Davenport was looking to add to the lead when they drove 57 yards in 10 plays later in the third quarter. DU advanced to the Walsh 26-yard line but three straight incompletions halted the drive. Meanwhile, Walsh couldn't mount more than a five-play drive in the third quarter. To begin the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers added another field goal but the Davenport defense held firm inside the red zone. Brown's second field goal from 25 yards made it 10-6 with 8:57 left in the game.
The defense held on downs stopping a drive that got to the 12-yard line with 3:09 left. DU went three-and-out to punt back to Walsh with 1:23 remaining and the ball at their own 35-yard line with no timeouts. The Cavaliers moved the chains three times and set up a first-and-goal at the 10-yard line. They spiked the ball with nine seconds left and set the stage for drama. Walsh quarterback Jeremy Hodge looked for a receiver but couldn't find one and decided to tuck and run. He was stopped inbounds at the two-yard line by
Aaron Hill and time expired.
Daniels led the team with 70 rushing yards and also completed six passes for 65 yards.
Kyshawn Richards added 65 rushing yards and the Panthers also got 36 rushing yards from
Seth Acda and 54 from Harden.
Kyle Wojahn punted five times for a 46.4-yard average.
Elysee Mbem-Bosse led the defense with 10 tackles.
Shaq Floyd recorded six tackles including five solo stops.
"Today was a great team win to see the men fight through some adversity," said head coach
Sparky McEwen. "It shows the mental toughness you need to have during these tough games! We have to get back and watch the video and correct mistakes but will take the win and get better from it."
