The regular season finale between Davenport and Grand Valley State is a role reversal from past seasons. The Panthers enter the game at 8-2 overall and ranked No. 18 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 22 in the Power Index. The Lakers are currently 7-3 overall and are No. 23 in the AFCA and No. 43 in the Power Index.  Quite simply, Davenport could qualify for the upcoming Division II playoffs with a win as they currently sit No. 7 in Super Region 3. The Lakers have to win and have other teams lose ahead of them in Super Region 3 as they are No. 11 in the regional rankings. The top 8 teams will advance to the postseason and that will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 15 on NCAA.com at 6:00 PM.

Davenport had a day they would like to forget last Saturday in a 37-6 loss at then No. 14 Michigan Tech. The Huskies made a statement of their own in pursuit of a playoff berth behind a balanced offense and stingy defense. MTU gained 441 yards, the most allowed by DU this season, including 224 rushing yards. That total on the ground was also a season high allowed by the Panthers. For the first time this season, DU played in a game where neither team committed a turnover, but the DU offense mustered just 296 yards, including 214 on the ground. The Huskies blazed out to a 37-0 lead early in the third quarter, before Ian Jenkins botted a pair of field goals in the fourth quarter for the Panthers. It was the first time that DU did not record a touchdown since Nov. 16, 2024 against Ferris State. Davenport used a trio of quarterbacks, who completed 9-of-20 passes for 82 yards. Mac VandenHout went 5-of-6 for 49 yards and also rushed for 36 yards. Harlon Hill candidate Cephus Harris was held to under 100 yards for the first time in his last 10 games with a season-low 66 rushing yards in 19 carries. He now has 86 rushing yards in his last two games against Michigan Tech. D'Angelo Bellamy and Latrell Scott each led the Panthers with six tackles. Scott also forced a fumble and had 1.5 tackles for loss.

Grand Valley State started off the season hotter than anyone else in Division II with a 5-0 record and averaged 55.8 points per game. Then came an uncharacteristic three-game losing streak for the first time in 15 years against Michigan Tech (41-35 OT), Ferris State (41-34), Saginaw Valley State (27-20) in one-score games. The Lakers have since rebounded with convincing wins over Roosevelt (45-22) and Northern Michigan (61-14). Kellen Reed is one of the best wide receivers in Division II and the numbers back that up. He leads Division II with 22 receiving touchdowns and is third with 1,242 receiving yards. The main man throwing him the pigskin is Andrew Schuster. He ranks third in Division II completing 71 percent of his passes and is fourth in passing efficiency (183.1). He leads the GLIAC with 2,316 passing yards to go with 32 touchdowns and just five interceptions. The defense is stout allowing just 18.2 points per game and they lead Division II allowing just 117.3 passing yards per game. The Lakers are also sixth nationally allowing 252 yards per game. GVSU also has a very reliable kicker in Mathew Bacik, who was named GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday. He went 7-of-7 in extra points and booted a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the first half against NMU.

Davenport is searching for their first win in the all-time series against Grand Valley State in what will be the ninth matchup. The Panthers will need to find a way to dent the scoreboard as they have averaged just 6.12 points in the previous eight meetings and scored 14 points or less in each contest. The Panthers had a brief 7-0 lead in the first quarter of last season's matchup in Allendale. Kayden Collins had a 10-yard touchdown run to cap off a 10-play, 75-yard drive on their first possession. The Lakers responded with 21 straight points, including a 29-yard touchdown run by Kellen Reed early in the second quarter. Davenport concluded their scoring at 3:52 of the second quarter as Earnest Sanders got loose for a 75-yard touchdown pass from D'Wan Mathis, which made it 21-14. GVSU scored 16 second-half points to pull away. Brady Drogosh scored twice on the ground to give him three rushing touchdowns on the day. Drogosh finished with a team-high 71 yards on eight carries. Collins led the Davenport rushing attack with 89 yards on 11 carries. DU completed just four passes for 109 yards. D'Angelo Bellamy led the DU defense with nine tackles and Latrell Scott also registered five tackles.



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