CALEDONIA, Mich. — The first half of football on Saturday afternoon was a thing of beauty for the Davenport Panthers as they built a 24-0 halftime lead over visiting Thomas More. The Saints did not go away however and kept things relatively close in the second half with 17 points. In the end, DU came away with a 31-17 victory to start the 2023 season.
After getting stopped on fourth-and-goal at the two-yard line on the opening possession, the Panthers forced a fumble as Jaremey McQueen put a hard lick on Jordan Marksberry and Austin Alward recovered the ball at the Thomas More 24-yard line. Two plays later, it was Jason Whittaker finding Antjuan Collins wide open over the middle for an 18-yard tocuhdown connection and a 7-0 lead.
After a three-and-out by DU's defense, the offense marched 57 yards in nine plays capped off by Whittaker lobbing a pass to the back corner of the end zone and Preston Smith going up to grab the ball at its peak for a five-yard scoring grab with 2:35 left in the first quarter for a 14-0 advantage.
The lead ballooned to 21-0 early in the second quarter as DU scored on their third straight drive. The drive went 11 plays and covered 59 yards in 4:48 and the scoring play was Whittaker on a quarterback sneak from one yard out with 11:39 left in the quarter. The Panthers ended the scoring in the first half as Brandon Gielow blasted a 32-yard field goal on the 10th play of a drive that covered 64 yards.
Thomas More got on the board at the 11:06 mark of the third quarter on a Luke Iden 37-yard field goal after a blocked punt by the Saints set them up in great field position. The Saints made it 24-10 with 3:04 remaining in the quarter as quarterback Rae'Von Vaden rushed up the middle for 33 yards untouched to cap off a nine-play, 83-yard drive.
After being outscored 10-0 in the third quarter, Davenport got their final score of the game at the 7:10 mark of the fourth quarter. Whittaker's third touchdown pass of the game was the second connection with Smith who caught a pass and raced 32 yards to paydirt for a 31-10 lead. The Saints responded back immediately in 2:32 as Vaden fired a pass that somehow missed several arms of DU defenders and was caught by Anthony Grossnickle to the end zone from 19 yards to make it 31-17.
Thomas More recovered the onside kick but Vaden's fourth down pass fell incomplete at the DU 41-yard line and the Panthers took over with 3:11 to play. They did force a punt by DU but the final drive saw Xavier Marquez record his first DU interception with 1:40 remaining to seal the victory.
Davenport finished with 358 total yards including 276 through the air. Whittaker finished 26-of-40 for 276 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Collins in his debut with the team caught seven passes for 81 yards and a score. Myren Harris, the Wayne State transfer, led the team with 82 rushing yards on 15 carries. Alaric Wooten led the defense with eight tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. Julius Wilkerson recorded six tackles in his debut. Nick Cain also had an interception and four tackles in the secondary.
DU (1-0) will welcome Bowie State next Saturday, Sept. 9 for a noon kickoff at Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex.
