Carolina’s Stephen Davis is warpped up by New Orleans’ defenders Ashley Ambrose, an ex-Mississippi Valley State star, right, and Fred Thomas during the first half of the Saints’ 23-20 loss on Sunday. Below, ex-Ole Miss standout Deuce McAllister runs for some of his 101 yards.(Jon Giffin The Vicksburg Post)

(10/27/03)NEW ORLEANS The New Orleans Saints were ready to celebrate their third consecutive win, but an uninvited visitor crashed the party.

Stephen Davis had a Carolina-record 178 yards rushing and two touchdowns as the Panthers (6-1) defeated the Saints (3-5) in overtime 23-20 on Sunday. Carolina has swept the season series.

“Obviously, he’s a great running back. He had two or three long runs on us today,” Saints coach Jim Haslett said. “They do a great job with the running game.”

Davis even saved his best for last as he busted up the middle for 34 yards on his final carry to set up the game-winning 31-yard field goal by John Kasay.

With the win, Carolina remains in first place in the NFC South, two games ahead of Tampa Bay (4-3), which shut out Dallas 16-0.

“I thought we fought hard and the guys played hard, and we had opportunities to win the game, but we just didn’t cash in,” Haslett said. “I’m disappointed because I thought we played well.”

New Orleans falls farther behind in the standings, leaving its chances of reaching the playoffs in doubt.

“We had an opportunity to get back to .500 and we didn’t,” said Saints quarterback Aaron Brooks, who finished 20-of-33 for 187 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of turnovers. “So it’s back to the drawing boards for us.”

New Orleans won the toss to begin overtime, and Michael Lewis took the ensuing kickoff 53 yards to set up the Saints at the Carolina 46.

Despite the great field position, the offense quickly stumbled, forcing a fourth-and-1 from the 37.

A field goal by kicker John Carney would have tied his career long of 54 yards, but Haslett chose to go for the first down. Julius Peppers forced ex-Ole Miss star Deuce McAllister to fumble and the Panthers recovered.

“I told Jim (Haslett) give me the ball and told him I could get a yard. I let him down. I let my teammates down,” said a downtrodden McAllister, who ran for 101 yards on 26 carries. “It hurts. There’s only one other hurt I had like this before and that was when my brother passed away.”

Both teams struggled in the early going, gaining a combined 137 yards in the first quarter.

The remainder of the half was a different story.

Davis rushed for 95 yards on 14 carries in the second quarter. He ran for his first touchdown, a 1-yarder, with 13 minutes, 30 seconds left to give Carolina a 10-0 lead.

“When you’ve got a good back like that, he can find the hole and hit it,” said Saints defensive tackle Kenny Smith, a Meridian native.

In the second quarter, Brooks and Joe Horn, a former Itawamba Community College star, took over.

After Davis’ score, the Saints mixed in running and passing on an 11-play, 72-yard drive that culminated in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Brooks to Horn. Horn bruised his knee on the play and was shaken up, but he played the rest of the game.

On New Orleans’ next possession, Brooks found Horn again for a 23-yard score with 1:17 left in the half.

Following a touchback on the kickoff, Carolina’s drive stalled at the 37 and the Saints called timeout with 9 seconds remaining. Steve Gleason then blocked the punt and Carney capitalized with a 46-yard field goal to give the Saints a 17-10 halftime lead.

Kasay added his second field goal midway through the third quarter to trim the lead to 17-13. New Orleans then had an opportunity to increase the lead, but failed.

After driving to the Carolina 22, Brooks’ pass to Boo Williams was intercepted by Will Witherspoon at the 7.

A war of attrition followed until Davis ended a 58-yard drive with his second touchdown, giving the Panthers a 20-17 advantage with 3:46 left in the game.

But the Saints weren’t done yet.

Brooks led an impressive drive that moved New Orleans 44 yards to the Carolina 25. On third-and-1, Brooks found Williams on a pass, but his move to avoid Terry Cousin cost the Saints the first down.

Carney kicked a 42-yard field goal to send the game into overtime where Davis marched the Panthers to the win.

“We needed this game to stay ahead of the pack in our division,” Davis said. “We just stayed with what we do best running the football.”