CALEDONIA, Mich. - The Davenport football team did not have the answers for No. 1 Grand Valley State on Saturday afternoon as the Panthers were hoping to get a share of the GLIAC championship with a win. The Panthers finished third in the rugged GLIAC with a 49-7 loss to the Lakers.

The Panthers won the coin toss and defered to the second half. Grand Valley State set the tone by going 59 yards in six plays as Jack Provencher caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Cade Peterson. The Lakers used their third possession to make it 14-0. Tariq Reid broke through the line on the first play and raced 55 yards to the end zone.

The Panthers drove into GVSU territory on their next drive and had a 3rd-and-7 at the 16-yard line. Ky'ren Cunningham carried the ball for 26 yards on back-to-back plays to make it 1st-and-10 at the GVSU 19. A 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty however pushed the ball back to the 31-yard line and after an incomplete pass set up a 48-yard field goal. This was a turning point in the game as it was blocked by the Lakers and returned 45 yards by Grant Hart for a 21-0 advantage after the first quarter.

The Lakers took over with 6:40 left in the second quarter and marched 82 yards in just four plays. Jaylon Tillman got behind the defense for an 88-yard touchdown down the home sideline from Peterson. He threw one on the money around the DU 45 and Tillman did the rest for a 28-0 lead.

The special teams played another big role late in the second quarter as Kyle Wojahn had a punt blocked and Cole Patritto returned it 10 yards for a touchdown and a 35-0 lead. GVSU finished the quarter at the 2:22 mark as Peterson had a 17-yard touchdown run on a two-play, 44-yard drive for a 42-0 lead at halftime.

Caleef Jenkins scored the team's touchdown on the ground from one yard at 4:24 of the third quarter to cap off a seven-play, 67-yard drive. Reid scored right back for the Lakers on their next drive with a 13-yard touchdown run with 1:12 left in the quarter.

Davenport took care of the ball with no turnovers and did force a fourth-quarter interception by Jalen Robinson. The Lakers had 417 total yards compared to 309 for the Panthers. DU had been great on third down all season but were just 3-of-16 in this one. The defense just couldn't make plays behind the line of scrimmage as Joe Thomas had the only tackle for loss. Robinson finished with six tackles in his final home game at DU. He ranks second all-time at DU with 245 tackles and had his third career interception. C.J. Rutherford and Shaq Floyd each had four tackles from the secondary.

The Panthers will now have to wait to see if they make the NCAA Division II playoffs. The selection show will air on NCAA.com Sunday at 5:30 PM.