Davenport claims football thriller in 2nd overtime

Above: Bryce McClain opened the fourth quarter with an 82-yard touchdown run in the Mules’ 40-34 overtime loss to Davenport on Saturday. Photo by Steve McClain.

The Wahkiakum Mules made the trip to central Washington last Saturday and came away with a 40-34 overtime non-league loss to the Davenport Gorillas.

Mule Coach Eric Hansen scheduled the long road trip to fill a vacant date in the schedule. The team stayed Friday in the Tri-Cities and had a great time, except for the final score, Hansen said.

"For a football fan, it was a great game," he said.

Davenport led 28-20 going into the fourth quarter when the Mules scored twice to take a 34-28 lead. Then the handle came off the ball, and the Gorillas converted a fumble recovery into a touchdown to tie the game at 34-34 and force overtime.

In the first overtime period, the Mules forced and recovered a Gorilla fumble. In their half of the period, the Mules punched the ball to the one-foot line but fumbled the ball away themselves.

Starting off the second overtime period, the Mules gave up the ball on downs, and Davenport scored on a pass play to win the game.

The Gorillas had taken an 8-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring on the game's opening drive. The Mules responded with a touchdown drive; Bryce McClain capped it with a five-yard run. The conversion failed, leaving the Gorillas ahead 8-6.

In the second quarter, Davenport scored eight more points on a touchdown drive. Quarterback Brandon Fudge closed the gap with a two-yard plunge for the Mules. McClain ran the conversion leaving the Mules trailing 16-14 at halftime.

The Gorillas scored twice in the third quarter on a pair of 21-yard runs. The Mules added six points to their total on a two-yard run by freshman quarterback Lars Blix, who had taken over for Fudge.

"Our tight end Jordyn Fritsch was injured, and I moved Fudge into the line to get some blocking," Hansen said.

McClain opened the fourth quarter with an 82-yard touchdown run that cut the Davenport lead to 28-26. The Mules took the lead with 4:48 left on Zach Schneider's 21-yard run. Blix passed to Ryan Helms for the two point conversion and a 34-28 lead.

A turnover gave the Gorillas possession late in the game, and they completed a 10-yard pass to tie the game. The Mule defense stopped the two point conversion try to send the game into overtime.

The Mules piled up 439 yards of rushing and 62 yards in the air. McClain had 234 yards, and Schneider gained 124. Wyatt Parker added 42 yards.

The Mules had 19 first downs. The Mules were called for five penalties for 60 yards and had four fumbles and lost three. Two passes were intercepted.

Davenport had 369 yards rushing and 134 yards passing. The Gorillas had 10 first downs and made four fumbles and lost two, and two passes were intercepted. They had four penalties for 30 yards.