Oct. 24, 2009

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Ashland, Ohio - No. 6 Grand Valley State claimed an impressive 34-7 GLIAC road win at Ashland Saturday (Oct. 24) afternoon. GVSU improves to 8-1 overall and 7-1 in GLIAC action with the win. The Lakers will host Northern Michigan next Saturday (Oct. 31) at 7 p.m.

The Laker defense forced a turnover on the second offensive play of the game when Danny Richard sacked Ashland QB Billy Cundiff and forced a fumble in the process that LB Brad Howard recovered. QB Brad Iciek hit Greg Gay for a gain of 19 on a third-and-15 and P.T. Gate followed with two running plays for 15 yards to the Ashland five. However, three straight incompletions forced a 22-yard field goal by Justin Trumble to give the Lakers a 3-0 lead. Following an Ashland drive that covered just 33 yards, Iciek was back on the field directing the Laker offense. Ashland was called for pass interference that moved the ball to the AU 49, followed by an 8-yard completion from Iciek to Smolen. RB James Berezik carried the ball three times for 15 yards and Iciek then hit sophomore Greg Gay with a 25-yard TD pass and after the PAT GVSU led 10-0.

"It was nice to get that opening turnover and score first," said GVSU head coach Chuck Martin. "Our defense then just dominated play for the rest of the first half."

The Laker defense forced another three-and-out and put the GVSU offense back on the field. Iciek directed a 13-play, 73-yard scoring drive that concluded with an Iciek to Carlos Clark 10-yard TD pass and took 7:19 off the clock. Trumble added the PAT for a 17-0 GVSU lead.

The Laker defense limited the high-powered Ashland offense to just 90 yards on 22 plays in the first 30 minutes. In addition, the Laker offense held onto the ball for 19:48 of the first half.

GVSU opened the second half on offense and took full advantage quickly. Following a 31-yard kickoff return, Berezik carried the ball twice for six yards and Iciek then hit Blake Smolen with a 54-yard TD pass. GVSU held a 24-0 lead following the Trumble PAT.

"I felt it was important to score our first possession of the second half and when Brad (Iciek) hit Blake (Smolen) with that scoring pass you could see that it took the air out of Ashland," said Martin.

Ashland gained just seven yards on three plays and was forced to punt on its opening drive. Following a 29-yard punt GVSU took over on the 50 yard line. P.T. Gates gained 35 yards on two carries, but the drive then stalled and Trumble connected on a 37-yard field goal to up the Laker lead to 27-0. Grand Valley State put the finishing touches on a dominating performance with a 9-play, 55-yard scoring drive early in the fourth quarter. Gates ran the ball six times for 45 yards, Berezik twice for eight yards and Smolen once for two yards. Gates finished the drive with a 10-yard run and Trumble added the PAT for a 34-0 GVSU lead.

Ashland drove 71 yards in eight plays versus the Laker second defense for its only points of the game. GVSU ran the final 4:45 off the clock as Justin Sherrod gained 24 yards on five carries.

The Grand Valley State starting defense limited Ashland to just 156 total yards and tallied a season-high six QB sacks. Danny Richard and Ricky Shorkey each tallied two QB sacks, while Jacob McGuckin led the defense with 10 tackles. Ashland entered the game averaging 282.1 yards per game passing, but was limited to just 49 passing yards on 9-of-13. The Laker offense also held onto the ball for 36:37 and converted a season-best 12-of-18 third down conversions. Ashland was 3-for-10 on third down and 0-4 on fourth down.

Iciek completed 11-of-20 passes for 146 yards and three TDs, while Gates led the rushing game with 95 yards on 10 carries. Berezik toted the ball 18 times for 57 yards. Gay caught a season-high four passes for 51 yards and a TD, while Smolen caught two passes for 62 yards and a TD.

Notes...Grand Valley State head football coach Chuck Martin moved into second in all-time wins at Grand Valley State with 69. Martin passed former Laker head coach Jim Harkema's 68 wins...Blake Smolen moved past 5,000 career all-purpose yards (5,062). Smolen has rushed for 1,946 yards, has 1,923 receiving yards and 1,193 kick return yards.

GVSU is 93-7 in its last 100 games with four National Championships (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006). The Lakers are 116-8 in their last 124 games and 92-4 in its last 96 regular season games...Including the last six games of the 2000 season, the Lakers are 61-3 at home, 49-4 in their last 53 road games and 51-5 in all games away from Lubbers Stadium in their last 56.

The 2009 GVSU senior class is 46-3 with one National Championship and three GLIAC titles. In addition, the 2009 senior class is 39-1 in regular season games,

The American Football Coaches Association has released 117 polls since the 2001 season and GVSU has been ranked No. 1 79 times, including an AFCA record 36 straight weeks at No. 1. The AFCA started its coaches' poll in 2000 and the Lakers have opened the season as the No. 1 ranked team six times.

Grand Valley State has been ranked number one in the country in 79 of the last 105 polls since the opening game of the 2002 season. GVSU has finished the year ranked in the top 10 (2001-2, 2002-1, 2003-1, 2004-9, 2005 -1, 2006-1, 2007-4, 2008-4) in eight straight postseason polls. GVSU has been in the top five 101 times and top 10 107 times.

Grand Valley State has the second longest streak for consecutive games without being shutout at 211 games. The Lakers were last shutout by Ferris State (23-0) in 1992. Valdosta State's 222 games without being shutout is the longest streak.

Grand Valley State is 80-4 in its last 83 GLIAC games.