Davidson lets opportunities fade in home loss to Stetson

On the plus side, the Davidson Wildcats won another turnover battle, recovering three fumbles and snagging a couple of interceptions against the Stetson Hatters on Saturday.

But they couldn’t turn that opportunistic defense into a victory, letting two second-half leads escape them and falling 31-27 in a Pioneer Football League game at Richardson Stadium.

Quarterback Gaven DeFilippo tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kegan Moore with 1 minute, 7 second to play as Stetson (2-2, 1-1) handed the Wildcats (2-3, 0-2) their second straight loss.

“You have to take advantage of the opportunities you get,” Davidson coach Paul Nichols said. “If you shoot yourself in the foot enough times, you’ll finally give the other team some momentum. We have to do a better job of executing.”

Davidson played well enough to win in significant stretches of the game, grabbing a largest lead of 21-10 on two quick touchdowns to start the second half – a 72-yard run by freshman quarterback Stockton McGuire on the second play of the third quarter and a 5-yard touchdown pass from McGuire to tight end Nick Nolting a couple of minutes later.

Stetson struck back with back-to-back touchdown passes from DeFilippo to Moore of 42 and 38 yards for a 24-21 lead. A 3-yard touchdown run by Keylan Moore with 5:45 left in the game gave the Wildcats their last lead at 27-24.

Three who mattered

DeFilippo: He had a game of highs and lows, throwing three interceptions but compensating with a 24-of-43 afternoon for 261 yards and three touchdowns.

Moore: He was there every time the Hatters needed a big catch. He finished with eight receptions for 151 yards – including the three fourth-quarter touchdown catches.

Jaylen Mize: A defensive back, he kept the Wildcats in it with three big plays in the heart of the game. A fumble recovery and an interception stopped two red-zone drives by Stetson and a forced fumble set Davidson up for its last touchdown.

Worth mentioning

Stetson avenged a 2015 season-ending 20-17 loss to the Wildcats, a game delayed six hours by lightning. At the time, the win broke Davidson’s 24-game PFL losing streak.

They said it

“Winning college football games is not easy. You have to go take it from people. We had a lot of chances to do that today and we couldn’t get it done.” – Nichols

Next

Davidson will play at the University of San Diego at 4 p.m. (Eastern) next Saturday. … The next home game will be at noon Oct. 15 against Butler.

This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 8:09 PM with the headline "Davidson lets opportunities fade in home loss to Stetson."