Tag Archives: Davenport Football

Davenport breaks point-total record with 75-23 win over visiting Roosevelt Saturday

Citizen Journalism, Local Sports, Sports, , ,
(Image Courtesy, Davenport Universiy)



By Bill Rohn
WKTV Contributor
greer@wktv.org


Davenport seized a 49-9 halftime lead, then continued to pour it on, beating the visiting Roosevelt Lakers 75-23 Saturday.


Coach Sparky McEwen’s Panthers, who improved their GLIAC record to 3-2, 4-3 overall, set team and individual records during the win, including the most points in a single contest. Running back Cephus Harris led the onslaught with three scores plus a DU single game record 181 yards rushing on a mere eight carries, before heading to the bench midway through the third quarter.


Davenport running back Cephus Harris had a program-record 181 rushing yards and three touchdowns on eight attempts. He also had a team-record 87-yard run. (Photo Courtesy, Davenport University)




Roosevelt, which journeyed from Chicago for the contest, fell to 0-4 in the GLIAC, 1-6 overall.


“The record feels great,” said Harris afterward, saluting his “good offensive line having your back every time. I just took the ball and ran with it.”


The Panthers held a 14-0 lead three minutes into the contest on an opening drive 4-yard pass from quarterback D’Wan Mathis to Clint Walker, followed by Vince Cooley’s 27-yard pick six interception of Laker QB Tony Chahino’s first pass.


Chahino redeemed himself with a TD pass for the visitors, but DU’s Mathis responded with a 57-yard run, increasing the lead to 21-7 at the 9:58 mark of the first quarter.


Cephus Harris stole the show
The 5-8, 215 lb. junior produced a 37-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter, a 4-yard TD run 72 seconds into the second quarter, and a team record 87-yard touchdown sprint 6:44 before halftime. Davenport also got a 7-yard score from Harris‘ running mate Kayden Collins. Roosevelt managed only a safety, setting DU’s halftime margin at 49-9.


The 40-point lead aside, DU’s McEwen felt that his team had plenty of work to do at halftime, noting that he felt his team was not finishing plays in the opening half.


“We talk about consistency around here,” McEwen said. “I felt like we got out of our own way and it’s fun to have games like that so everyone can enjoy it. Just hard work you can see paying off. We’re starting to peak and it couldn’t be a better time.


Davenport quarterback D’Wan Mathis completed 6-of-9 passes for 81 yards and one touchdown, while adding 72 rushing yards and a touchdown on seven carries. (Photo Courtesy, Davenport University)


“It was nice to see it all work together today.”


The Panthers responded to halftime advice with scores on an 81-yard Gregory Asher punt return, an 87-yard kickoff return by George Sims following a second Roosevelt touchdown pass, and a 32-yard field goal from freshman kicker Ian Jenkins to lead 65-16 after three quarters.


JT Hartman added a 5-yard final quarter TD run and Jenkins hit a 19-yard field goal, making it 75-16 before Roosevelt added a TD pass with 30 seconds to play.


Du finished with 503 yards of total offense, with a school record 387 on the ground and 116 through the air.


Davenport linebacker Latrell Scott led with 11 tackles
Panther linebacker Latrell Scott had 11 tackles to go with six apiece from Jayden Cray, Myles Harris, and Nick Pulley. DU also had three interceptions and three fumble recoveries.


Davenport now continues with three straight noon kickoffs at home in November against Saginaw Valley, Northern Michigan and GLIAC leader and current national No. 1 Ferris State.

Davenport  football cruises in Motor City, beats Wayne State 49-14

Citizen Journalism, City of Kentwood, Kent County, Local Sports, Sports, West Michigan, , ,
Davenport Running Back Cephus Harris runs through a crowd. (Courtesy, WSU Athletics)


BY Bill Rohn
WKTV Contributor
greer@wktv.org

Four scores from running back Cephus Harris combined with a revived passing attack led Davenport to a 49-14 win over Wayne State’s Warriors in Detroit Saturday.

The win improved the Panthers’ Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record to 2-2. DU is now 3-3 overall, while Wayne State fell to 0-3 and 0-7.

DU’s revved up run/pass combination produced 214 yards on the ground and 330 yards through the air.

Harris — a 5’8” 215 pound Junior transfer from Youngstown State, whose older brother Myron Harris led the Panthers’ rushing attack last year — opened the scoring on a 9-yard run midway through the first quarter, then added two one-yard TD plunges in the second quarter. Davenport also got a 35-yard touchdown pass from quarterback D’wan Mathis to Dom Grguric with 5:44 left in the opening quarter.

Davenport receiver Dom Grguric grabbed a 35-yard touchdown pass from quarterback D’wan Mathis in the opening quarter.(Courtesy, WSU Athletics)


The Panthers led 28-0 with 1:23 left before halftime when Wayne’s Luke Johnson stepped in front of an ill-timed pass from Mathis and quickly returned his interception 67 yards for a score, cutting DU’s intermission margin to three touchdowns, at 28-7.

Meanwhile, Davenport’s defense harassed Wayne‘s quarterbacks all afternoon. They knocked Warrior starting QB Carson Creehan out the game with concussion symptoms on Wayne’s second play from scrimmage, then sacked replacement QB Justin Cox four times. The DU defensive surge was led by Xavier Marquez and Latrell Scott, with five tackles each. Coach Sparky McEwen’s squad also forced a fumble and snared two interceptions, while holding the Warriors to 37 net rushing yards.

Second half action saw Davenport continue to press its advantage. Mathis hit wide receiver Keonta Nixon with a 50 yard third-quarter touchdown pass before Harris found the end zone from nine yards out for his third touchdown with four minutes left in the quarter. Harris finished the contest with 133 yards on 20 carries, for an average of nearly seven yards per attempt.

The Warriors finally got on the offensive scoreboard on a one-yard run by XaVior Tyus early in the fourth quarter, making the score 42-14. Davenport closed the scoring on a 4-yard run by Jeremiah Sterling with 7:34 left to play.

In addition to DU’s strong running game, Mathis threw for 285 yards, connecting on 18 of 25 throws including a five for five performance while targeting wideout George Sims.

Late in the game, Davenport actually reached 576 yards in total offense. However, Panther quarterbacks then saw two center snaps fly over their heads and land well behind the line of scrimmage. The result was over 30 yards in losses, wiping out DU’s chance at a new total offense record.

Davenport now returns home to Caledonia, with noon kickoffs on each of the next four Saturdays, beginning on October 25 against Roosevelt University. Wayne State will next attempt to get a first win at GLIAC foe Saginaw Valley State.

Michigan Tech edges host Davenport Saturday

Citizen Journalism, Kent County, Local Sports, Sports, West Michigan, , , ,
Davenport receiver Earnest Sanders caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Grant Thwaites. (Photo Courtesy, Brandon Petryszyn)


By Bill Rohn
WKTV Contributor
greer@wktv.org

An anemic offense and a 49-yard field goal attempt that missed by three feet with little time to play doomed the Davenport Panthers to a 16-14 loss to Michigan Tech Saturday at Meyering Field in Caledonia.

The loss dropped the Panthers’ record to 1-2 in the GLIAC Conference and 2-3 overall. The visiting Huskies improved to 2-0 in the GLIAC, 5-1 overall.

Both teams showed strong defensive play throughout the contest. They also regularly failed to score in a game that Tech led 10-7 at half and 13-7 entering the fourth quarter. Davenport fell notably short, with game totals of 55 yards net rushing, 186 yards of total offense, and only nine first downs.

Difficulties moving the ball aside, Davenport had a shot at victory before its Homecoming crowd of nearly 2,000 late in the final quarter. The Panthers had a first down at the MTU 27 with just under two minutes to play. However, a delay of game penalty and two incomplete passes led to a fourth down 49-yard field goal attempt – his first ever as a Panther – by DU freshman Ian Jenkins with 1:09 on the clock.

Jenkins’ boot had enough distance, but sailed three feet wide to the right, ending Davenport’s victory hopes.

Davenport Coach Sparky McEwen was clearly unhappy with his team’s offensive performance, suggesting that it was “time to show some heart” at halftime.

“We knew this would be a tough game and there were far too many mistakes on our end,” said McEwen afterward, adding, “We’ve just got to get it figured out because it doesn’t get any easier from here.”

Among Davenport’s problems Saturday was the absence of prior starting quarterback D’Wan Mathis, who missed the game with an injury suffered in DU’s loss to Grand Valley one week ago. That meant the Panthers rode behind quarterback Mac VandenHout, who hit 12-of-25 passes for 131 yards, but also threw two interceptions. Making matters worse, Davenport’s rushing attack — which had averaged 185 yards per game entering the contest — averaged only 1.7 yards per attempt on 32 carries.

Addressing DU’s offensive performance, McEwen offered that Davenport “missed some reads, and they got some pressure on us. Those things happen and we’ll just have to get better from it.”

The Panthers managed only one lead in the contest. Following a first quarter field goal by Tech’s Avery Kucharski, they got a 74-yard kickoff return by George Sims, after which VandenHout found the end zone on a 4-yard quarterback keeper to make it 7-3. The Huskies responded with a 23-yard touchdown on a reverse by Nick Nora to lead 10-7 at the end of the first quarter, then led 13-7 at halftime following a 26-yard second quarter field goal from Kucharski.

Following a scoreless third quarter, Davenport continued to struggle with the ball, falling behind 16-7 on a 22-yard field goal by Kucharski with eight minutes remaining.

Davenport answered with a quarterback switch, as McEwen inserted redshirt senior QB Grant Thwaites behind center. Thwaites picked up the pace for the Panthers and closed the deficit to 16-14 with a 21-yard TD pass to Ernest Sanders.

From there, it was a question of whether the Panthers could score one more time, setting the stage for DU’s unsuccessful field goal try with 69 seconds remaining. The Huskies drained the clock in victory formation after the missed attempt.


D’Angelo Bellamy led the Panthers with eight tackles. (Photo Courtesy, Davenport University)


McEwen had praise for DU’s defense saying, “As bad as we were on offense, our defense was just as good.” Led by D’Angelo Bellamy and Antonio Mayes, with eight and seven tackles respectively, the Panthers held Michigan Tech to 20 points below its season average entering the game. “They gave us a shot to win in the end,” McEwen said.

Some good news for Davenport is they may have a good shot at improving their record in the short term. DU travels to Detroit on October 18 to face currently winless Wayne State, before returning home October 25 to host Roosevelt University. Roosevelt is currently 1-4 overall following a 42-7 weekend defeat at Saginaw Valley.

Laker quarterback Brady Drogosh scores 3 rushing touchdowns in 37-14 win over Davenport

Citizen Journalism, Local Sports, Sports, West Michigan, , , , , ,
GVSU quarterback Brady Drogosh had three rushing touchdowns against Davenport Saturday. (Photo Courtesy, Grand Valley State University)


By Bill Rohn
WKTV Contributor
greer@wktv.org

Grand Valley State University scored three first-half touchdowns, then held Davenport scoreless in the third and fourth quarters en route to a 37-14 victory Saturday in Allendale.

The win was the eighth in a row by the Lakers over their crosstown rival, who has never beaten GVSU.

“We had tremendous balance today and now we know who we can be,” said Grand Valley Coach Scott Wooster following the game, which was played in temperatures reaching 85 degrees. Grand Valley, ranked 10th nationally in the American Football Coaches Division II poll at kickoff time, improved its record to 3-1 overall, 1-0 in the Great Lakes Athletic Conference. The visiting Panthers fell to 2-2, 1-1 in the conference.

Quarterback Brady Drogosh led his team with 74 yards on the ground, including three touchdowns.

Wooster gave credit to Davenport for “dialing up“ solid offensive plays that rattled the Laker defense early on.

Davenport running back Kayden Collins had a 10-yard touchdown run in the first quarter for the Panthers. (Photo Courtesy, Brandon Petrysyzn)



The Panthers started strong, receiving the opening kickoff and launching a 10-play, 75-yard opening series that ended when running back Kayden Collins ran around the Laker left end for a 10-yard touchdown. Davenport never faced a third down during the six-minute drive.

Grand Valley answered quickly with a three-play drive that ended when redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Shuster found receiver Sean Byrd with a 28-yard TD pass.

Second quarter action saw the Lakers stifle Davenport’s offense, while taking a 21-7 lead on a 29-yard run by Kellen Reed and a 17-yard sideline sprint by quarterback Brady Drogosh, who alternated at QB with Shuster and freshman Zak Olejniczak throughout the game for GVSU.


“We’ve essentially got three all-conference guys at quarterback,” Wooster said.

Davenport closed to within 21-14 at halftime, when quarterback D’wan Mathis found Earnest Sanders with a 75-yard touchdown pass.

Drogosh lights up running game in second half

Following halftime, a sellout crowd of 15,188 was treated to more heroics by Drogosh. The 6-4, 220-pound sophomore sandwiched a third quarter six-yard TD run and a fourth-quarter TD carry of 12 yards around a safety that occurred when Davenport centered a punt snap out of its own end zone. Those 16 points accounted for all of the second-half scoring and the Lakers’ 37-14 final margin.

Grand Valley’s defense was dominant in the second half, holding Davenport quarterbacks Mathis and Mac VandenHout to final passing statistics of 4-for-19 for a total of 109 yards. The Lakers were 12-for-25 through the air for 127 yards. The Panthers picked up 193 yards on 45 rushes. Grand Valley, paced by Drogosh’s three rushing TDs, picked up a season-high 254 yards on 38 carries.

Anthony Cardamone led the Lakers with 10 tackles, while D’Angelo Bellamy had nine stops for the
Panthers.

Grand Valley travels to winless Northern Michigan for a Saturday night contest. Davenport hosts Michigan Tech, winners of four of five games, in a Saturday afternoon Homecoming game.

Laker running back Derrick Woods. (Photo Courtesy, Grand Valley State University)