CALEDONIA, Mich. — The Davenport football team was involved in one of the best games in the history of the program on Saturday as they took No. 11 Central Missouri down to the wire before falling 32-31 in the home opener. The highly-anticipated matchup lived up to the billing as both teams traded scores and the game was never more than a one-possession game throughout.
The Panthers struck first after their defense got a stop on the opening drive. It was a quick strike as Myren Harris took a swing pass and raced 60 yards down the home sideline on the third play of the drive for a 7-0 lead.
The Mules had a majority of the snaps on offense in the first quarter but the Panther defense held them out of the end zone. UCM had a 14-play, 74-yard drive on their second drive and it resulted in a JT Miller 28-yard field goal for a 7-3 deficit. Davenport went three-and-out on their second drive and the Mules kept the ball until the end of the quarter before a missed field goal by Miller. UCM had 13 first downs in the first quarter and ran 34 plays compared to seven for the Panthers.
The first mistake came on the first play of the second quarter as a bad snap went over the head of quarterback Mike O'Horo and into the end zone for a safety. The Mules trailed 7-5 and scored on the ensuing kickoff. LaAngelo Bell scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns on a one-yard plunge on third-and-goal with 11:31 left in the second quarter for the first lead of the day by Central Missouri at 12-7.
DU answered on their next drive with their best possession to date. It covered 75 yards in 16 plays and lasted 8:13 before Caleef Jenkins carried it in from two yards out with 3:18 until halftime. In the second quarter, DU held the ball for 9:06 which allowed their defense to catch their breath against the high-powered, no-huddle attack.
Central Missouri scored on their first drive of the second half as Zach Zebrowski tossed his only touchdown of the game to Cristian Dixon on an over-the-shoulder catch from 23 yards for a 18-14 lead after a missed extra point by Miller. Davenport once again regained the lead at 21-18 as Preston Smith hauled in a 20-yard score with 5:35 left in the third quarter.
UCM took a 25-21 lead into the fourth quarter as Bell carried for 19 yards with 1:43 left in the third quarter for the four-point lead. Zebrowski went 8-for-11 through the air in the quarter for 133 yards. The Panthers took a 28-25 lead with 13:45 to go after Harris caught his second touchdown of the game. He caught the ball on a wheel route and raced 40 yards after the catch to cap off a 75-yard drive which took seven plays.
The Panthers drove down the field and was looking to extend the lead to two scores midway in the fourth quarter. They had a drive stall on the six-yard line and Brandon Gielow booted a 23-yard field goal for a 31-25 advantage. UCM needed a big drive and got it as they marched 75 yards in 11 plays and took 5:00 off the clock. Bell banged through the middle for a 13-yard score with 1:02 remaining and the PAT by Brett Grupe made it 32-31.
A 15-yard penalty on the touchdown was added to the kickoff, so Davenport got a good return to their own 41-yard line with 57 seconds left. The first play was critical as O'Horo had an open receiver over the middle which was dropped. The catch would have put DU in a good position to potentially set up a game-winning field goal. On the next play, O'Horo fired into double coverage downfield and it was intercepted by Noah Blair for the end of the upset bid.
O'Horo finished with 21 completions for 327 yards and three touchdowns. Harris caught six passes for a career-high 128 yards. Smith caught four passes for 92 yards. O'Horo also led the rushing attack with 38 yards on 13 carries. Zebrowski completed 31 passes for 349 yards, one score, and one interception. He also led the rushing totals for the Mules with 13 carries for 65 yards.
Xavier Marquez led the Panther defense with nine tackles including two tackles for a loss with one sack. Phillip Starks added eight tackles and a tackle for loss. La'Ken Nettles and Reed Snitker also had a sack on the day. Chris Thompson had five tackles and an interception.
The Panthers (2-1) will travel to William Jewell (3-0) next week for a 2 PM clash in Liberty, Mo.
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