• The 16th-ranked Davenport football team improved to 7-0 all-time on homecoming with a 28-12 victory over Northern Michigan last Saturday. It was the ninth win at home in the last 10 home games for the Panthers who are still atop the GLIAC standings halfway through the regular season. The victory gave the Panthers an even 36-36 record all-time in program history and head coach Sparky McEwen earned his 30th victory at Davenport and climbed to within one game of the .500 mark in his tenure at Davenport. The Panthers did not have their "A" game against the Wildcats but still found a way to capture the win. They scored 14 points in the second and fourth quarters while not allowing a touchdown until the game's final play. Jason Whittaker proved to be accurate going 11-of-17 through the air for 214 yards and two touchdowns. He found Peyton Brown on a 67-yard touchdown in the first quarter which was the longest passing play of the season. He also found Brenden Sherrod on a 14-yard strike in the fourth quarter. Myren Harris and Caleef Jenkins also had a rushing touchdown in the win.
• Davenport trails 3-2 in the all-time series against the Warriors and this will be just the second meeting between the teams in Detroit. The last time DU made the trip to the East side they won 37-14 back in 2018. Last year's affair was a wild one with Davenport winning 47-43 in Caledonia. DU recorded 452 total yards compared to 382 for the Warriors. Whittaker passed for 369 yards and a school-record six touchdowns. Jenkins rushed for 52 yards and a score. Sherrod set a career-high with 11 catches for 143 yards and a score. Preston Smith tied the school record with three touchdown catches and caught nine passes for 112 yards. Brendan Boman led the defense with nine tackles including two tackles for loss and also forced two fumbles. Austin Alward recorded eight tackles including 2.5 tackles for loss and half a sack. Former Warrior and current Panther Myren Harris rushed for 76 yards on 18 carries and scored twice on the ground. In addition, Julius Wilkerson had four tackles for WSU and is now the leading tackler for the Panthers in 2023.

• Wayne State picked up their second win of the season and won their GLIAC opener last week with a 23-21 triumph at home against Michigan Tech. The Huskies were coming off a 28-0 loss to Davenport the week before and the Warriors lost 24-23 to No. 15 NAIA Concordia (Mich.) in the final 24 seconds. The kicking game proved critical as Drew Wyble missed all three of his field goal attempts for MTU, while Griffin Milovanski made all three of his field goal attempts coming from 22, 47, and 38 yards respectively. The Warriors leading 23-21 gave the ball over to the Huskies with 5:26 left on their own eight-yard line. MTU moved the ball to the WSU 36-yard line but could not convert on 4th-and-11 and the Warriors took over with 59 seconds left and did two kneel downs to end the game. Kendall Williams rushed for 117 yards on 22 carries and had a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Gamon Howard led the WSU defense with eight tackles including a tackle for loss.

• Myren Harris went over 100 rushing yards for the fourth straight game versus Northern Michigan with 15 carries for a season-high 141 yards. He continues to lead the GLIAC in rush yards per carry (7.1), rushing yards (598), and rushing yards per game (119.6). Harris will be playing against his former team where for two seasons he finished with 1,685 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. He was named Second Team All-GLIAC in 2022 and First Team All-GLIAC in 2021.
• Julius Wilkerson had his second double-digit tackle game of the season against Northern Michigan with a team-high 10 tackles including two tackles for loss. His season-high was 17 tackles against Bowie State back on Sept. 9. Wilkerson leads the Panthers with 46 tackles this season which is also fifth in the GLIAC. His 9.2 tackles per game also ranks second in the conference. Wilkerson will also be playing against his former team after three standout seasons with the Warriors. He left WSU with 208 career tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks. Julius was named Second Team All-GLIAC in 2022 and First Team All-GLIAC in 2021.
• The Panthers have gotten off to great starts this season and have outscored their opponents, 35-3, in the first quarter. The first score allowed was a field goal by Northern Michigan from 28 yards out last week.
• The Davenport defense once again has been one of the best in NCAA Division II. The unit ranks 20th nationally in third down conversions (30 percent), 16th in first downs allowed (82), fifth in rushing defense (58.6 yards per game), and fifth in tackles for loss (9.6 per game).
• Peyton Brown set the single-season school record at Lake Erie with 1,079 receiving yards in 2022 and has started to make a name for himself now with Davenport. Over the last two weeks, Brown has 10 catches for 188 yards and two scores. He had a season-high 136 receiving yards on five grabs against Northern Michigan.
• Caleef Jenkins has rushed for a touchdown in four straight games and has double-digit carries in all five games this season. He has 210 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He needs two more touchdowns on the ground to tie his own single-season school record of eight from 2022.

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