MARQUETTE, Mich. — Davenport defeated Northern Michigan 35-16 on Saturday at the Superior Dome in the GLIAC opener. The Panthers have now won six straight in the series and sent the Wildcats to their 26
th consecutive loss dating back in 2022. Davenport surged ahead with a 21-point second quarter, including a pair of rushing touchdowns by
Cephus Harris and
Evan Brown's first touchdown catch as a Panther. The Panthers led 21-10 at halftime, only to see the Wildcats cut the lead to 21-16 entering the fourth quarter. The key play in the game came on the first play of the final quarter as
Kevin Underwood blocked a punt and then scooped it up and raced 24 yards for a score. Notably, this was the first blocked punt return for a touchdown since
Nick Pulley's achievement in 2023 at William Jewell. That gave DU a 28-16 lead and then Harris delivered the knockout punch with a school-record, 80-yard run to paydirt for a 35-16 lead with 11:43 left in the game.
Northern Michigan featured a one-dimensional attack on offense. Noah Dobert had a fine day rushing for 156 of the team's 278 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Wildcats did not complete a pass in the game going 0-for-5 as Austin Ridl threw two interceptions.
Markell Gilford got his second pick of the season in the fourth quarter and
Vincent Cooley intercepted one of NMU's next possession.
In the first quarter, Northern Michigan opened the scoring with a 44-yard field goal by Michael Karlen at 11:18, following a blocked punt by Mitch Larkin that set up favorable field position. Davenport struggled to gain momentum early, with a stalled drive that ended in a turnover on downs at the Wildcats' 18-yard line. The Panthers were going for a field goal and the snap was bad and Alex Wojahn had to pick it up and make something happen, but he lost 11 yards to keep it 3-0 in favor of NMU.
In the second quarter, Davenport took control early with a pair of vertical throws to set up their first touchdown.
D'Wan Mathis connected with
George Sims for a 45-yard pass, setting up a subsequent 48-yard touchdown pass from Mathis to
Evan Brown at 11:58, putting Davenport ahead 7-3. Northern Michigan responded quickly with a 32-yard touchdown run by Dobert at 9:15, regaining a 10-7 lead after a successful extra point by Karlen. However, Davenport's Harris broke through with a significant 57-yard touchdown run on the second play of the drive, reclaiming the lead at 14-10 with 8:29 left on the clock. Following a fumble recovery by
Kennedy Nelson as Dobert coughed it up, Harris sealed the quarter with a 9-yard touchdown rush at 1:11 on 1
st-and-goal, extending their lead to 21-10 before the half. Harris' performance also set the DU single-game rushing yardage record with 171 yards and tied the single-season school record with eight rushing touchdowns this season. He broke his brother, Myren's record of 168 yards on the ground at Wayne State (Oct. 14, 2023). Myren also had the longest run prior to today with a 75-yarder versus William Jewell (Sept. 23, 2023).
The third quarter saw Davenport get a stop on defense and take over at their own 38-yard line. The Panthers had a stalled drive and a special teams miscue by Wojahn on a bobbled snap lost 22 yards and set up the Wildcats at the DU 22-yard line. On the next play, Dobert went up the middle for 22 yards and after a failed two-point conversion it was 21-16.
The final quarter was all Davenport as they used key plays to score the only 14 points of the fourth quarter. It was a good sign as DU did not score in the fourth quarter of the first two games of the season. Underwood's play changed the momentum and propelled the team to victory. Davenport gained 392 total yards with 181 on the ground and 211 through the air. Mathis finished 12-of-20 passing for those 211 yards and most importantly no interceptions. DU did a great job with no turnovers and limited their penalties to four flags for 35 yards.
Xavier Marquez and
Jamar Mills led the defense with nine tackles. DU recorded four tackles for a loss of 12 yards. Mills,
Josh Tate, and
Kennedy Nelson each had a solo tackle for loss. Nelson also had a fumble recovery.
Looking ahead, Davenport (2-1, 1-0 GLIAC) will host Lincoln (CA) on Thursday, September 25 in Caledonia, Mich. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in the home opener.
