WEEK 10: 'Cats Head to Sunshine State for Meeting with Hatters

GAME 9 | NOV. 4, 2023 | 1:00 PM | SPEC MARTIN STADIUM (6,000) | DELAND, FLA.

[RV] DAVIDSON WILDCATS
2023 Record: 6-2 (5-0 PFL)
2022 Record: 8-4 (6-2 PFL)
Head Coach: Scott Abell
Davidson Record: 40-21, 6th year
Career Record: 79-45, 12th year

STETSON HATTERS
2023 Record: 3-5 (1-4 PFL)
2022 Record: 4-6 (2-5 PFL)
Head Coach: Brian Young
Stetson Record: 11-18, 3rd year
Career Record: Same

INSIDE THE SERIES
Meetings: 14
Series Record: Davidson leads, 8-6
First Meeting: Stetson Won (1912 Season)
Last Meeting : Davidson Won, 56-48 ot (11/5/2022)
Streak: Won 4
In Davidson: 3-4
In DeLand: 5-2
Abell vs. Stetson: 4-1

1ST AND 10

Davidson will play its next two away from home beginning with a 1 p.m. kickoff at Stetson Saturday afternoon.
Winners of six straight, the Wildcats enter 6-2 overall and tied atop the Pioneer Football League standings with Drake at 5-0.
The 'Cats, who have won two of the last three conference titles, are 27-7 in PFL play dating back to the 2019 season.
With the 45-28 win over Presbyterian, Davidson has secured its sixth straight winning season, the longest stretch in program history.
The 'Cats are looking to match their best start (2021 | 6-0) in PFL play since joining the league in 2001.
During their current six-game win streak, the Wildcats are averaging 51.6 points per game.
In addition to leading the country in scoring offense (43.5), rushing yard, (301.0) and team passing efficiency (193.53), Davidson also ranks among national leaders in total offense (466.1 ypg / 5th), 3rd down conversion pct. defense (0.287 / 6th), first down defense (121 / 6th), time of possession (6th / 33:40) and fewest penalties per game (4.5 / T-7th).
Davidson leads the conference in 29 statistical categories.
On Sunday, Adam Zouagui became the third (Coulter Cleland, Mari Adams) Wildcat to earn a PFL Weekly honor this season. The freshman kicker was named Special Teams Player of the Week after totaling nine points, including a career-long 50-yard field goal against the Blue Hose.
Adams (12) and Mason Sheron (10) rank 1-2 among PFL leaders in rushing touchdowns, while Cleland leads the conference in touchdown passes (14).
10 of Adams' touchdowns have come in the last four games.
To go along with his league-leading 14 touchdown passes, Cleland is competing 78.7% (85-108) of his passes.
Head Coach Scott Abell ranks third on Davidson's career wins' list with 40 victories. He is just five wins shy of becoming the program's all-time winningest coach.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Davidson and Stetson have met 14 times on the gridiron with the 'Cats leading the all-time series, 8-6.
The Wildcats have won the last four meetings, including last year's overtime thriller, 56-48, in Davidson.
Davidson is 5-2 all-time in DeLand, Fla.

LAST MEETING | DAVIDSON 56, STETSON 48 (OT) -- NOV. 5, 2022 |DAVIDSON, N.C.

Davidson's Dylan Sparks scored from three yards out and Maxwell Weaver made a diving catch on the two-point conversion to lift the Wildcats over Stetson, 56-48, in double overtime Nov. 5, 2022 inside Richardson Stadium.
After Caden Bonoffski's 38-yard field goal put the 'Cats up 41-34 with 7:48 left in the fourth quarter, Stetson's Brady Meitz connected with Michael Carley on a 30-yard touchdown pass to tie the game, 41-41, and force overtime.
Both teams, which totaled over 500 yards of offense, scored touchdowns and were successful on their point after attempts in the first overtime.
Following Sparks' eventual game-winning score to start the second extra session, the Wildcats' defense stepped up when it mattered most, forcing a turnover on downs.
Playing in its first overtime contest since 2018, Davidson, the nation's top rushing team, finished with 350 yards on the ground.
Mark McCurdy led the Wildcats with 157 total yards (111 rushing / 46 receiving). The junior slot receiver scored on a 46-yard catch and run a minute before the half and later found the end zone on a 66-yard run to put Davidson back in front 30-27.
The Wildcats' running back duo of Sparks (97 yards) and Coy Williams (71 yards) added two touchdowns each, while combining for 168 yards on the ground. Senior tight end Lucas Raber was Davidson's top receiver with 89 yards on three catches to go along with a touchdown.
Luke Durkin, making his second straight start at quarterback for the Wildcats, finished 7-of-12 for 160 yards and two scores.
Stetson, which entered with the nation's eighth-best passing offense, got 379 yards in the air and six touchdown passes from Meitz.
Coming off a game in which he had five tackles for a loss and three sacks, Jonathan Hammond moved into fifth on Davidson's all-time sacks list with two more this afternoon. The junior defensive end also added three more tackles for a loss.

LAST TIME OUT | DAVIDSON 45, PRESBYTERIAN 28 - OCT. 28, 2023 | DAVIDSON, N.C.

The 1919 Cup is staying in Davidson. The Wildcats made sure of that with a 45-28 victory over Presbyterian in the Third Annual Carolina Border Clash Saturday night at Richardson Stadium.
It's the sixth straight win for the Wildcats, who turned an early 7-7 tie into a 38-13 third-quarter lead.
Davidson improved to 6-2 overall and 5-0 in the Pioneer League with coach Scott Abell's 40th win in his sixth season leading the program. It's also the Wildcats' 17th home win in the last 18 games. Presbyterian fell to 3-5 and 1-4.
Running back Mason Sheron rushed 23 times for 139 yards, and his 43-yard touchdown made it 21-10 early in the second quarter.
Fellow back Mari Adams added 43 rushing yards and provided the Wildcats' first two scores on 1- and 4-yard touchdown runs.
Quarterback Coulter Cleland was efficient through the air, finishing 7-of-8 passing for 69 yards and three scores. He hit Brody Reina for a 12-yard touchdown with 1:04 left in the half, making it 31-13 at the break, and started the second half with a 27-yard Cleland touchdown pass to Mark McCurdy to push the lead to 25. In the fourth, Cleland connected with Aaron Maione on a 4-yard scoring play.
Davidson kicker Adam Zouagui capped a 12-play drive in the second quarter with a 50-yard field goal, his longest to date.
Defensive end Jonathan Hammond led the defense with eight tackles and a sack, while defensive back Amare Hill added seven tackles.
Presbyterian quarterback Tyler Wesley was the top Blue Hose threat, rushing for 198 yards and a score and throwing for two touchdowns.

UP NEXT

Davidson will wrap up its road slate next weekend at Morehead State.

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