CALEDONIA, Mich. — No. 11 Davenport defeated Northern Michigan 30-0 on Saturday at Pappas Stadium on Homecoming Saturday. DU built the result around its ground game, rushing for 307 yards and three touchdowns on 50 carries while finishing with 22 first downs. The defense completed the shutout by holding NMU to 246 total yards, including 75 passing, and preventing a score on two red-zone trips. The Wildcats have not scored a point since the 10:04 mark of the second quarter in the first meeting between these schools on September 19.
Davenport scored on four of their five possessions in the first half to build a 23-0 lead. Northern Michigan deferred the choice and kicked off to Davenport to start the game. The Panthers marched 75 yards in six plays and
Jonathan Palmer used the RPO to hit
Brody Thompson on a 32-yard touchdown for the 7-0 lead.
Davenport would have 182 yards in the first quarter and keep the ball for 10:02. Northern Michigan ran nine plays for 20 yards and went 1-of-3 on third down. The second quarter saw the most points on the board for Davenport.
Ryan Moore made his first field goal of the season from 29 yards to make it 10-0 with 14:14 left in the quarter. After a three-and-out, the Panthers took over at their own 32 and went 68 yards in 12 plays for the 17-0 lead.
Cephus Harris had the first of his three rushing touchdowns on a three-yard bulldoze with 6:29 left in the quarter. The Wildcats again went three-and-out and DU went 80 yards in 11 plays as Harris plunged in from one yard with 1:21 left until halftime for the 23-0 lead after the missed extra point.
Neither team would score in the third quarter, but the Wildcats showed fight with 10:03 off possession and 90 total yards on 20 plays. Noah Dobert ran for 66 yards on 13 carries in the third quarter alone. DU concluded the scoring at 4:24 left in the game as Harris had the hat trick on a six-yard rush to paydirt up the middle for the 30-0 score. The second-string defense would preserve the shutout as the Wildcats got the ball down to the DU 1, but on the final play it was a one-yard loss by Dobert with tackles from
Cash Ruff and
Caleb Aungst. The Wildcats finished with 246 total yards and just 4.1 yards per play. Davenport contributed 451 yards on 71 plays and went 9-of-16 on third down.
Harris rushed 29 times for 225 yards and three touchdowns and added a 5-yard reception. Palmer completed 10-of-20 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 64 yards on 12 carries.
Brody Thompson caught two passes for 40 yards and a touchdown.
Zack Pappadakis led DU with nine tackles.
Game Notes:
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Cephus Harris went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season and his 1,224 yards broke his own single-season school record from last year.
- Harris has rushed for over 200 yards in three games this season and he has three games of three rushing touchdowns.
- DU improved to 9-1 on homecoming.
- Eight different receivers had at least one catch for DU.
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Vincent Cooley had his third career interception and first this season for DU.
Up next, the DU football team travels to Arlington Heights, Ill., to face Roosevelt (5-1) on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 2 p.m. Eastern.
