Nov. 13, 2004

Final Stats

Allendale, Mich. - The Grand Valley State Laker football team lived to play again Saturday with a 16-13 come from behind victory Saturday at Winona State. Grand Valley State will play at Northwood next Saturday (Nov. 20) at a time to be determined. GVSU (9-2) has now won nine straight playoff games and its senior class improved to 50-4 in their careers. The Laker win also snapped a 25-game home field winning streak for Winona State. Grand Valley State has now won 25-of-its-last-26 road games.

Grand Valley State built a 9-0 halftime lead on three Scott Greene field goals, one in the first quarter and two in the second. The third was a 24-yarder with eight seconds left in first half. Winona State dominated the third quarter and scored a pair of TDs. All-american receiver Chris Samp hauled in an 18-yard TD pass from Ryan Eversman to pull the Warriors within a 9-7 margin. Winona State took their first lead of the game with a 7-play, 79-yard drive that running back Alex Wiese ended with a 2 yard run. The Warriors failed on the two-point conversion attempt and led 13-9.

Grand Valley State's game-winning drive started at 14:44 mark of the fourth quarter when the defense forced a WSU punt. Mark Catlin returned the punt five yards to the GVSU 41 yard line to start the dive. Sophomore QB Cullen Finnerty hit freshman receiver Demonte Collins for 16 yards to pick up a key third and nine play. Following a a holding pentalty Finnerty hit Collins again, this one covering 19 yards to the WSU 31 and a Laker first down. Finnerty then took over with runs of three and 15-yards to the Warrior 13. Finnerty rambled in from nine yards out to conclude the drive and give the Lakers a 16-13 lead. Each team punted in the closing minutes before Winona State had one last chance with a drive in the closing minute. However, a 45 yard field goal attempt as time expired was short and left.

The Laker defense was stellar in the opening half, limiting WSU to 123 yards of total offense, including -4 rushing yards on 18 carries. The GVSU turned in a key couple of plays in the first quarter when they held the Warriors on a fourth and one play from the GVSU one yard line to thwart a 10-play, 80-yard drive. Anthony Adams led the GVSU defense with 13 total tackles and two tackles for loss. DeJuane Boone added eight tackles, while Michael McFadden chipped in eight tackles, four tackles for loss (-21) and a QB sack (-8). Lucius Hawkins picked off a pass and returned it 29 yards to go along with his six tackles. GVSU tallied 15 tackles for loss and four QB sacks.

The Laker offense tallied 247 total yards, including 135 via the ground. Senior Michael Tennessee rushed for 100 yards on 23 carries and moved to within 45 yards of the GVSU all-time rushing record. Tennesse has 3,323 yards in his career. Cullen Finnerty completed 10-of-20 passes for 112 yards. Finnerty also rushed for 40 yards and a TD on 16 carries. Demonte Collins hauled in five passes for 87 yards.