Nov. 19, 2005

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State's junior QB Cullen Finnerty tossed two second-quarter TD passes and the Laker defense forced three North Dakota turnovers en route to a 17-3 Laker victory over the Fighting Sioux in NCAA DII second-round playoff action. Grand Valley State will host Saginaw Valley State next Saturday at 12:00 p.m. in the NCAA DII Northwest Regional championship game in Lubbers Stadium.

Grand Valley State was forced to punt after the Lakers failed to pick up a first down on their first series, but GVSU sophomore linebacker Anthony Adams forced a fumble by UND's Chris Beatty on the Fighting Sioux's first play from scrimmage that safety Joe Ballard recovered. GVSU then drove 37 yards in 10 plays, but the Lakers were unable to get a 27 yard field goal attempt off following an errant snap. The Lakers, who were going against a 25 mile per hour wind in the first quarter, were able to get out of the first quarter with a 0-0 score. GVSU took full advantage of the wind in the second quarter. Finnerty directed a 12-play, 85-yard drive early in the quarter. Finnerty hit tight end Jeremy Cochrane with a 26 yard scoring pass on a broken play and Scott Greene added the PAT to give GVSU a 7-0 lead.

GVSU got the ball back on its own 31 yard line following a UND punt and the Lakers moved 69 yards in five plays for a score. Finnerty hit WR Preston Garris with a 38 yard pass play on third down, then he found Antione Trent at the UND five and Trent went the final five yards for a 26 yard scoring play. Greene added his second PAT to give the Lakers a 14-0 lead. North Dakota drove to the Laker 38 on its next possession, but Adams forced his second fumble of the half and DL Mike McFadden picked it up and returned it nine yards to thwart the drive. The Laker defense limited UND to just 105 yards of total offense in the first half, while the GVSU offense notched 208 yards, including 164 yards passing from Finnerty.

UND was heading into a brisk wind in the third quarter and the Fighting Sioux's Brent Halfmann netted just 28 yards on his first punt of the third quarter. GVSU drove 13 yards into North Dakota territory, but Greene was wide left on a 48 yard attempt. GVSU got the ball back on its own 20 and drove 48 yards in six plays before Greene drilled a career long, 50-yard field goal with 5:01 left in the third quarter to put the Lakers up 17-0.

North Dakota's Jeff Glas hit a 27 yard field goal with 10:55 left in the second quarter to conclude a 15-play, 70-yard drive. GVSU used 4:19 off the clock on its next possession, but the Sioux continued to put the pressure on GVSU and drove into Laker territory. However, linebacker Rory Steinbach knocked the ball lose when sacking QB Reed Manke and fellow linebacker Dan Skuta picked up the ball and returned it five yards. The Laker defense faced one final threat when North Dakota drove down to the Laker 3-yard line and had a first and goal, but the stout GVSU defense forced three incomplete passes and sacked Chris Belmore to keep the Fighting Sioux out of the endzone for the second time in the last three years.

Finnerty completed 14-of-26 passes for 245 yards and two TDs. Senior Brandon Langston caught six passes for 79 yards, while Eric Fowler hauled in five passes for 75 yards. Garris, Cochrane and Trent caught a combined three passes for 91 yards and two TDs. The Laker defense was led by All-American candidate Mike McFadden's 10 tackles, two tackles for loss, one QB sack and one fumble recovery performance. McFadden has now recorded a QB sack in all 10 games this season. Freshman linebacker Dan Skuta added 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one QB sack and a fumble recovery, while Samad Cain and Joe Ballard each collected nine tackles. Anthony Adams chipped in eight tackles and two forced fumbles.