The Drake University football team’s 2021 season ended Saturday afternoon with a 45-14 loss at Davidson. Davidson clinched the Pioneer Football League title and the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA FCS Playoffs with its win.
Davidson (8-2) piled up 586 yards of total offense on 93 plays, including 470 yards on the ground while holding Drake (2-9) to 190 total yards.
Davidson had a pair of 100-yard rushers in Aris Hillard (133) and Bernard Turner, Jr. (117), with Hillard scoring twice.
For the Bulldogs, Drake’s Alex Rogers, Linden Howe and Danny Morales tried to stave off the Wildcats with 13, 12 and 10 tackles, respectively. Morales and Rogers also combined for four pass breakups.
However, that defense spent much of the afternoon on the field as Drake’s longest offensive drive took just 2:49 off the clock. Quarterback Ian Corwin led Drake offensively with 117 yards on 10-of-22 passing. Brandon Langdok hauled in seven catches for 61 yards in the loss.
On its third play from scrimmage to open the game, Davidson’s Hillard ripped off a 67-yard run off the right end to put the Wildcats up, 7-0. On Drake’s ensuing opening drive, Davidson’s Cade Vela picked off the Bulldogs on Drake’s 44-yard line to set Davidson up with excellent field position.
Seven plays after the turnover, Eli Turner, Jr. dashed in from the 20-yard line to help Davidson take an early 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the contest. Following a Drake three-and-out, Davidson got the ball back and spent more than six minutes on an 11-play, 72-yard drive capped by a 19-yard touchdown strike from Louis Colosimo to Coy Williams, who would later score on the ground, to take a 21-0 lead just before the end of the first quarter.
Davidson added to its lead with a 26-yard field goal with 2:35 left in the opening half, and Drake’s Danny Morales responded on the kickoff with a 54-yard return to get the Bulldogs’ on Davidson’s side of the field for the first time at the Davidson 36-yard line.
Eleven plays later, Andrew Kasten carried the ball in from the 4-yard line for the Bulldogs’ first score of the game as Drake’s offense was limited to 62 yards of offense in the first half. However, the Wildcats racked up 334 yards of offense in the half to take a 24-7 lead.
Drake exited the locker room with vigor, scoring on its first drive when Corwin connected with Trey Radocha from 20-yards out to pull within two scores at 24-14. The score was set up by a 48-yard completion to Ryan Hayes to drive down to the Davidson 20-yard line.
However, Davidson closed the third quarter with another touchdown and tacked on another pair of rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter to coast to the 45-14 win.
