Nov. 3, 2007

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery 

University Center, Mich. - #1 ranked Grand Valley State claimed a 21-10 victory over Saginaw Valley State Saturday at Wickes Stadium before a crowd of 7,108. Grand Valley State claims at least a share of its third straight GLIAC crown with the win, marking the first time in school history that the Lakers have won three straight GLIAC crowns. Grand Valley State will close the 2007 regular season at home next Saturday versus Northern Michigan. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Lubbers Stadium.

Saginaw Valley State struck first as Jeremy Burr kicked a 25-yard field goal with 4:14 left in the first quarter. SVSU drove 19 yards in six plays following a fumbled punt by GVSU. GVSU Blake Smolen returned the kickoff 48 yards to the SVSU 40 and the Lakers drove 26 yards in eight plays before place kicker Todd Carter booted a 22-yard field goal with 14:56 left in the second quarter. Carter added a 27 yard field goal with 2:24 left in the second stanza to give GVSU a 6-3 lead. GVSU recorded a safety when SVSU quarterback Chris Dougherty had a snap go over his head and into the end zone with 1:29 left in the second quarter to up the Laker lead to 8-3 heading into the half.

"I thought our defense did an outstanding job in the first half in some tough situations," said head coach Chuck Martin. "Offensively, we moved the ball inside the 30-yard line but couldn't finish the drives.

Grand Valley State took a 14-3 lead with a 6-play, 54-yard drive for a TD. Iciek completed passes of 12 and 29-yards to tight end Scott Blasko, then carried the ball in himself from two yards out with 2:03 left in the third quarter. GVSU then iced the game with a 16-play, 91-yard drive touchdown drive to start the fourth quarter. GVSU ran the ball nine times on the drive for 49 yards. Saginaw Valley State scored a late TD when Ric Cottegim hauled in a 23-yard scoring pass with 7:18 left in the fourth quarter.

The GVSU defense recorded a season-high seven QB sacks and limited Saginaw Valley State to 197 yards of total offense. SVSU rushed for 50 yards and passed for 147. The Cardinals entered the game averaging 426.3 yards of total offense per game. The Lakers recorded 374 yards of total offense, 188 passing and 186 rushing. Blake Smolen tallied 73 yards on 14 carries, while Preston Garris rushed for 68 yards on 13 carries. James Berezik added 62 yards on 14 carries. Iciek completed 12-of-28 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown. Smolen recorded 154 yards of all-purpose yards. Defensively, Brandon Carr led the team with nine tackles and two pass deflections. Anthony Adams recorded eight tackles, two tackles for loss and two QB sacks, while Dan Skuta added 2.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 QB sacks. GVSU notched 10 tackles for loss on the day.

"I'm proud of how the kids competed today," said Martin. "We knew Saginaw Valley State was going to come out and play hard for 60 minutes and I felt that we competed at a high level against a quality football team."

Notes...GVSU is 94-6 in its last 100 games, while the Laker senior class improved 47-3. GVSU improved to 57-2 when ranked number one in the country. GVSU also improved to 62-3 in its last 65 GLIAC games. James Berezik became the single-season rushing leader for true freshman with 758 yards. Berezik passed Will Roach's total in 1977.