CALEDONIA, Mich. — The Davenport football squad on Saturday proved it's not how you start, but how you finish in a 52-38 win over visiting Michigan Tech in GLIAC action. The Panthers playing in their third straight home game found themselves in a hole down 17-0 after 13-plus minutes after the Huskies scored on their opening drive moving 75 yards in 11 plays. Will Ark took it himself at quarterback for a one-yard plunge at the 8:27 mark for a 7-0 lead. The Panthers muffed the ensuing kickoff and Tech took over at the DU 30-yard line. Two plays later, it was Darius Willis catching a 26-yard touchdown pass from Ark for a 14-0 lead. Davenport was intercepted on their first possession of the game and the Huskies again had a short field at the DU 35-yard line. The Panther defense held to a 31-yard field goal by Drew Wyble with 3:11 left in the first quarter.
Down 17-0, the Panthers scored on the first play of the second quarter as Jason Whittaker found Preston Smith from 12 yards out to cap off an eight-play, 67-yard drive. The Huskies had another long time consuming drive on their next possession. They took over at their own 25-yard line and marched 75 yards in 15 plays aided by a couple of Panther penalties to continue the drive. The drive lasted 8:40 when Alec Moriarty scored on the ground from two yards off right tackle on third and goal for a 24-7 lead.
Davenport then would go on to outscore the Huskies 38-7 until Michigan Tech scored with 18 seconds remaining to make it a final of 52-38. Whittaker and his receiving corps went to work and he tossed three touchdowns during that span and ran in for another. Roy Livingstone caught a 20-yard scoring pass at 4:25 of the second quarter and DU trailed 24-14 heading into halftime. Smith caught his second touchdown of the game from eight yards out at 10:04 of the third quarter and Whittaker's one-yard rushing score at 4:34 of the third quarter gave the Panthers their first lead of the game.
Michigan Tech responded with a 69-yard bomb to Brandon Michalak on a three-play drive lasting 59 seconds to regain a 31-28 lead. That would be their last lead as Davenport scored the next 24 points to put things out of reach. Demetrius Garrett cooked a Tech cornerback on a double move and hauled in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Whittaker at 1:11 of the quarter for a 35-31 lead. It was Garrett's first touchdown as a Panther. Livingstone followed that with a 12-yard touchdown grab to make it 42-31 with 12:28 to play. Brandon Gielow booted a 32-yard field goal at 5:58 and remained perfect at 3-for-3 this season. Kyshawn Richards then busted open a 38-yard touchdown run on third-and-four with 1:24 left. Richards touched the ball on the ground just five times but finished with a career-high 147 yards. He also set the school record with a 72-yard run in the third quarter to setup the eight-yard touchdown catch by Smith.
Whittaker won GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday and what an encore with six more touchdowns responsible for in this one. He tied his own school record from last week with five touchdown passes and finished 24-of-40 for 361 yards. Smith finished with nine catches for 143 yards and two scores. Livingstone caught five passes for 68 yards and two scores. Sy Barnett hauled in six catches for 99 yards. Caleef Jenkins carried the rock 16 times for 53 yards. Payton Mitchell led the defense with 11 tackles. Jalen Robinson added nine tackles and a half tackle for loss. Austin Alward had six tackles including three for a loss and a sack. Marshall Brooks and Darrin Cotton each had an interception in the second half on two of Tech's last three possessions. DU finished with 556 total yards and 8.8 yards per play.
Davenport overcomes 17-point deficit to defeat Michigan Tech
The Panthers took the lead in the third quarter