Nov. 15, 2003

Box Score

Grand Valley State (10-1, 9-1) began its bid to defend the 2002 NCAA Division II National Championship Saturday at the University of Findlay with an impressive 44-0 victory over the Oilers on a drizzle filled afternoon in the regular season finale. GVSU, ranked third in the latest NCAA Northeast Regional rankings, will now await a bid into the 16-team Division II Playoffs. The Lakers also secured their third straight 10-win season.

Grand Valley State took the opening kickoff and drove 64 yards in 13 plays before senior place kicker David Hendrix hit a 26-yard field goal to give the Lakers a 3-0 lead. The drive consumed 6:39 off the clock as the Lakers converted three third downs. Cullen Finnerty hit freshman wideout Micah Staley on a 36-yard pass to put the Lakers in position for the score. GVSU forced its second straight three and out before driving 75 yards in six plays for a two-yard pass from Finnerty to Staley. Tennessee rambled 43 yards and Finnerty ran 16 yards to the Findlay two-yard line to set up the score. Michael Tennessee then scored from one-yard out to conclude a four-play, 41-yard drive that consumed just 38 seconds to give GVSU a 17-0 lead at the half.

GVSU opened the second half with a pair of field goals by Hendrix. The first covered 35 yards and the second 22 yards to give the Lakers a 23-0 lead. Scott Mackey returned a punt 70 yards for a TD with under a minute left in the third quarter to give GVSU a commanding 30-0 lead. Lucius Hawkins picked off his first pass of the season to set up another Lakers score. QB Jeff Dock hit Staley with a 14-yard TD pass to put GVSU up 37-0. The Laker special teams picked up another scored with 13:00 minutes left in the game when Lamar Maxie blocked a punt and returned it 15 yards for a score and a GV 44-0 lead.

Tennessee led the ground game with 174 yards on 29 carries, while Ryan Hukill added 75 yards on 11 carries. Finnerty completed 6-of-9 passes for 79 yards and a TD, while Jeff Dock also tossed a TD pass. The Laker defense limited UF to just 282 yards of total offense and forced two Oiler turnovers. Hawkins led the defense with six tackles, an tackles for loss and an interception.

GVSU's shutout was the first since a 56-0 win over Minnesota-Crookston to open the 2001 season. The shutout was also the first in GLIAC play since a 23-0 victory over Wayne State in 1996. Hendrix added to his single-season, school-record for field goals with his three makes. Hendrix has now converted 19-of-22 field goals this season and 29-of-his-last-32 over the last two years.Grand Valley State continued its winning ways on the road with its 16th straight victory away from home.