Box Score UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Davenport football team knew they were going to need a complete four-quarter effort to defeat a talented Saginaw Valley State squad and came up just short 24-14 on Saturday. It was the first road loss of the season for the Panthers who could not score until the fourth quarter. Mike O'Horo got the start at quarterback for the Panthers, but was replaced early in the second quarter after an interception led to a 10-0 lead for the Cardinals. Redshirt freshman Mac VandenHout came in and led the offense to 14 points in the fourth quarter. He scored his first career touchdown on the ground from eight yards at the 13:30 mark and later with 48 seconds left threw a 18-yard touchdown pass to Preston Smith.
 
The Cardinals opened the scoring on a 42-yard field goal by Rodrigo Castaneda on their first drive which stalled out at the DU 19-yard line after a sack by Deeb Alawan. The Panthers offense could not gain any traction in the first quarter with three straight three-and-out possessions to start the contest. The Panther defense was keeping them close and got a turnover on a fumble to start the second quarter which was recovered by Christian Jones. Micah Cretsinger however picked off O'Horo on the next drive to set up the Cardinals at the DU 17-yard line. They used the short field for a three-play drive and Terrance Brown scored on the ground from one yard out with 11:41 left in the quarter for a 10-0 advantage.
 
VandenHout's first drive led to a three-and-out and the Cardinals capitalized with another touchdown drive. Michael Jamerson III carried the ball four times on the drive for 44 yards and Mason McKenzie handed off to Brady Devereaux for a two-yard rushing score on 4th-and-goal with 5:22 left until halftime for a 17-0 lead. Davenport had 74 total yards in the first half.
 
Jones continued his good day with an interception of McKenzie in the third quarter and he returned it 65 yards to the SVSU 10-yard line. The Panthers could not score however going backwards one yard and then Brandon Gielow uncharacteristically missed a 28-yard field goal to remain scoreless. The Panthers converted a fourth-down late in the third quarter and started the fourth quarter at the SVSU 10-yard line. They punched it in on the VandenHout eight-yard TD run to trail 17-7.
 
The defense continued to give the offense a chance with stops but the Cardinals eventually would cash in one more time. SVSU took over at their own 19-yard line with 8:51 remaining in the game and drove the distance in nine plays as McKenzie called his own number on a 32-yard TD scamper for a 24-7 lead. The Panthers got a fumbled punt back at the SVSU 31-yard line with 1:51 to play and got their final touchdown as VandenHout found Preston Smith from 18 yards out for the final score of 24-14.
The ground game was a telling stat as Davenport rushed for 52 yards compared to 171 for the Cardinals. Davenport was also just 2-for-16 on third down and had the ball 10 less minutes than Saginaw Valley State. Jones led the Panthers with seven tackles and his 65-yard interception return was the second longest in school history. Jamar Mills added six tackles including a nine-yard sack.
 
The Panthers will host senior day next Saturday in the home finale against Northern Michigan starting at noon.