Oct. 27, 2007

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Allendale, Mich. - #1 Ranked Grand Valley State jumped out to a 34-0 lead with 8:27 left in the second quarter and went on to claim a 34-7 victory over Ferris State Saturday night in Allendale before a crowd of 10,858. The win was the Lakers' 36th straight victory, the longest active streak in college football and the longest streak in DII history. GVSU will hit the road for a GLIAC tilt at Saginaw Valley State next Saturday at 12 noon.

Grand Valley State dominated from the opening drive of the game. The Lakers drove 60 yards in five plays as Blake Smolen ran untouched in from two yards out. Todd Carter added the PAT for a 7-0 lead. FSU quarterback C.J. VanWieren lost a fumble on the GVSU 38 that the Lakers turned into points. Sophomore QB Brad Iciek directed a 10-play, 62-yard drive for the Lakers' second TD. Senior RB Preston Garris scored the first of his two TDs on the night from three yards and Carter added the PAT for a 14-0 lead with 5:33 left in first quarter. Senior CB Brandon Carr picked off a VanWieren pass and returned it 30 yards to the Bulldog one and Garris scored from from the one for a 21-0 lead before the end of the first quarter. Sophomore Jacob McGuckin stepped in front of a VanWieren pass less than a minute later at the Bulldog 48 and Iciek directed a 7-play, 48-yard drive for a TD just 19 seconds into the second quarter. Iciek hit Jonn Mathews with a 6-yard scoring pass. GVSU capped its scoring on its next drive, going 89 yards in eight plays for its fifth touchdown in five drives. Iciek hit WR Brandon Horn with a 1-yard scoring pass to give GVSU a 34-0 lead. The Lakers' second offensive unit drove to the Ferris State 21 yard line as time was winding down in the first half, but Todd Carter's 31 yard field goal attempt was wide right as the half ended.

The Laker starting offense did not finish the first half and the starting defense played just one series in the third quarter.

"We came out ready to play and built a 34-0 lead early in the second quarter to pretty much put the game away," said fourth-year head coach Chuck Martin. "I was very impressed with the way our second unit marched the ball against their starting defense in the second half and I thought our second defensive unit did a great job of keeping Ferris State's starting offense in check for all but one drive in the second half."

Ferris State's lone scoring drive covered 92 yards in 12 plays as VanWieren scored on a 1-yard run with 3:39 left in the third quarter. The Grand Valley State starting defense yielded just 68 yards (52 rushing/13 passing) of total offense on 21 plays.

The Laker offense was balanced in the opeing half, passing for 129 yards and rushing for 111. For the game GVSU tallied 474 yards of total offense (236 rushing/238 passing). Freshman RB James Berezik recorded his third 100-yard rushing game of the season with 100 yards on 11 carries. Blake Smolen added 83 yards on eight carries. Iciek completed 11-of-15 passes for 161 yards and two TDs, while Marquel Neasman completed 6-of-10 passes for 77 yards. Horn caught five passes for 45 yards and a TD, while Mike Koster hauled in four passes for 60 yards. Justin Victor led the Laker defense with eight tackles and a QB sack (-6), while Matt Flutur tallied six tackles and two QB sacks (-13).

Notes...Grand Valley State is 94-6 in their last 100 games...GVSU is 61-3 in its last 64 GLIAC games with a 28-game winning streak. GVSU now owns the top two winning streaks in GLIAC history, 29 games (2000-2003) and its current 28-game winning streak (2004-2007).