NMU football can’t slow one of nation’s top runners
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CALEDONIA -- The Northern Michigan University football team got to see what it's like going up against one of the best running backs in the country over the weekend in this Grand Rapids suburb.
Normally, they've had one of the nation's best on their own side in sophomore Noah Dobert, who gained 200 or more yards in a game three times last season and pretty much rewrote the Wildcats' rushing record book then.
Davenport's Cephus Harris is making -- no, he has already made -- his case as one of the top runners in NCAA Division II this fall.
Harris broke the 1,200-yard mark in his sixth game of the season when he rolled up 225 yards on the Wildcats in a 30-0 shutout on Saturday.
He did it in 29 carries, averaging 7.8 yards per rush.
Dobert had a pretty good day, too, just that it didn't quite compare to Harris with 147 yards in 30 tries, a 4.9-yard per rush average.
While Harris didn't score the Panthers' first touchdown, but did punch it in from inside the 10-yard line three times from the middle of the second quarter on.
Davenport, which was ranked No. 11 in Division II entering the game, put up two TDs and a field goal in the second quarter for a 23-0 halftime lead. The Panthers had a 342-61 edge in yardage in the first half.
The Panthers finished with a hefty 451-246 advantage in total yards, not surprisingly winning the rushing war 307-171 while building an almost 2-to-1 margin through the air, 144-75.
Each team had one interception as their only turnovers, so for the second straight game, the Wildcats didn't lose in that department.
And NMU was whistled for a lot fewer penalties, flagged for just 2 for 12 yards as DU was tagged for nine for 73.
But for the second straight week, Northern couldn't muster 100 yards passing. Duke Shovald was 7 of 16 for 42 yards and the pickoff, Matt Stevens 2 for 3 for 33 yards, and Aidan Hoard 0 of 5. In total, they were 9 of 24 for 75 yards. This was Stevens' first action at quarterback.
Wilson Ptacek led receivers with four catches for 29 yards, while Jake Heemstra's lone catch was the team's longest of the day for 22 yards.
Davenport QB Jonathan Palmer threw all but one of his team's passes, going 10 of 20 for 146 yards, an interception and also a TD.
Jaiden Juback, Brody Thompson and Willie Deal each caught two of them, Juback the leader in yards with 58.
Defensively, Carter Schmitt made the Wildcats' interception as he also had a pass breakup. Murphy Monreal led NMU tacklers with 13, including five solo and one for a loss, while teammate Will Graffin had nine total, six solo and one for a loss.
Graffin, Nathan Pralle and Sam Corey each had a QB hurry, while Jwan Eastland had a pass breakup.
DU took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in six plays, capped off by Palmer's 32-yard pass to Thompson for a TD that made it 7-0.
With a possession that started in the opening period, the Panthers marched again before they were stopped on an incomplete pass on 3rd-and-5 at the NMU 11, prompting a Ryan Moore 29-yard field goal to make it 10-0.
The next time Davenport had the ball, though, it ground out a 12-play, 68-yard drive that took almost seven minutes off the clock. It ended with Harris' 3-yard scoring plunge up the middle with 6:29 left before halftime.
One more TD came from Harris on a 1-yard run to the right, but with the missed extra point, it was 23-0.
Northern's defense stiffened up for much of the second half, not allowing the final TD to be scored until 4:24 was left, a 6-yard rush up the middle by Harris for the final margin.
After that, Stevens led a valiant attempt by NMU to avert the shutout, leading it from its own 25 to the DU 1 before time ran out.
The Wildcats face their fourth straight national top-25 opponent at noon Saturday when they travel to Houghton to face No. 19 Michigan Tech. With the Miners Cup on the line, MTU has won their rivalry game the last 15 times.
Davenport 30, NMU 0
Saturday at Caledonia
Score by quarters:
Northern Michigan 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Davenport 7 16 0 7 -- 30
First quarter
DAV -- Brody Thompson 32 pass from Jonathan Palmer (Ryan Moore kick) 12:17
Second quarter
DAV -- Moore 29 FG 14:14
DAV -- Cephus Harris 3 run (Moore kick) 6:29
DAV -- Harris 1 run (kick failed) 1:21
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
DAV -- Harris 6 run (Moore kick) 4:24
Game statistics
First downs -- NMU 16, Davenport 22
Total plays-net yards -- NMU 60-246, Davenport 71-451
Rushes-yards -- NMU 36-171 (Noah Dobert 30-147, Wilson Ptacek 1-17), Davenport 50-307 (Harris 29-225, Palmer 12-64)
Comp-Att-Int-Yards -- NMU 9-24-1-75 (Duke Shovald 7-16-1-42, Matt Stevens 2-3-0-33, Aidan Hoard 0-5-0-0), Davenport 11-21-1-144 (Palmer 10-20-1-146, Mac VandenHout 1-1-0-(minus-2))
Top receivers -- NMU, Ptacek 4-29, Jake Heemstra 1-22, Lachlin Acker 2-16; Davenport, Jaiden Juback 2-58, Thompson 2-40
Punts-average -- NMU 7-38.7, Davenport 3-37.0
Fumbles-lost -- NMU 1-0, Davenport 0-0
Penalties-yards -- NMU 2-12, Davenport 9-73
Time of possession -- NMU 26:08, Davenport 33:52
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Northern Michigan University's Luc Damiani, bottom left, tackles Ferris State's Jaylin Townsend as Wildcats defender Jax Hertel jumps over them during their GLIAC game played at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Oct. 3. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)