Nov. 7, 2009

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Allendale, Mich. - #5 Grand Valley State used a balanced attack and a stingy starting defense en route to a 59-28 victory over Wayne State Saturday afternoon at Lubbers Stadium in the regular season finale. GVSU (10-1, 9-1 GLIAC) claimed its fifth straight GLIAC Championship and 15th in the programs history with the win. GVSU will now await its fate for the NCAA DII Playoff announcement set for Sunday at 3 p.m. on ESPN News. Grand Valley State was seeded third in the latest NCAA Division II Super Region 3 rankings, but top-seeded Minnesota State dropped a 26-21 decision to St. Cloud State. GVSU athletics will have all playoff information on the web site (www.gvsulakers.com) Sunday following the announcement by the NCAA.

The Laker defense put points on the board first as freshman linebacker Ricky Shorkey picked off a deflected pass and returned it 16 yards for a TD. Senior PK Justin Trumble added the PAT for a 7-0 GVSU lead. Trumble put the Lakers up 10-0 with a 25-yard field goal that culminated a 10-play, 70-yard drive. The GVSU defense forced another turnover as junior LB Justin Victor picked off a Mickey Mohner pass and returned it to the Wayne State 41. Junior RB James Berezik put the finishing touches on a 3-play, 41-yard drive with a two-yard scored and Trumble kicked the PAT for a 17-0 lead with :57 ticks left in the first quarter.

"We really wanted to start fast and it was nice to build a 17-0 lead after the first quarter," said head coach Chuck Martin. "Our defense stepped up and forced two turnovers that our offense was able to turn into points," added Martin.

Senior QB Brad Iciek hit senior WR Blake Smolen with a 16 yard scoring pass to finish off a 6-play, 52-yard scoring drive. Wayne State scored its only points of the first half as QB Mickey Mohner hit Troy Burrell with a 45-yard scoring pass with 3:40 left in the second quarter, but Smolen put the Laker offense in great field position with a 51-yard kickoff return to the WSU 44 yard line. Iciek hit Berezik with a 14 yard completion and Greg Gay with a six-yard pass before hitting Justin Sherrod with a 24 yard TD pass to give GVSU a 31-7 halftime lead. Junior DL Danny Richard blocked a Wayne State field goal attempt at the end of the first half.

Wayne State recovered an onside kick to open the second half and moved the ball into GVSU territory, however, the Laker defense held on fourth down to get the ball back. Iciek directed a 13-play, 86-yard scoring drive and scored on a 13 yard run to give GVSU a 38-7 lead. GVSU upped its lead to 45-7 with a Sherrod one-yard TD run. Justin set up the score with a 76 yard run to the Wayne State eight yard line. Sherrod added his fourth TD of the game following a Warrior score. Sherrod accounted for all 60 rushing yards on the drive, finished by his 15 yard TD run. WSU added another another score against the Laker second unit, but the Laker second team offense scored third TD of the quarter with a 6-play, 64-yard drive. Sherrod carried the ball for 48 yards and Marquel Neasman hit Carlos Clark for a 16 yard gain. Sherrod finished the drive with his third rushing TD of the quarter, this one coming from four yards out to give GVSU a 59-21 lead.

Grand Valley State scored on eight of 10 drives in the game, including seven TDs. The Laker offense rushed for 269 yards on 33 carries and passed for 287 yards. Iciek completed 20-of-28 passes for 271 yards and two TDs, while rushing for 20 yards and one TD. Sherrod rushed for 184 yards and three TDs on 13 carries and caught one pass for 24 yards and a TD. James Berezik rushed for 57 yards and one TD on 12 carries, while hauling in four passes for 71 yards. Senior WR Blake Smolen went over the 2,000-yard receiving mark with five catches for 45 yards and a TD. Smolen is 27 rushing yards shy of 2,000 rushing yards. Junior WR Ryan Bass caught four passes for 64 yards, while TE Andrew Lorman caught three passes for 35 yards.

"I am really proud of what this team has accomplished, but now we are heading into playoff time," said Martin. "We set out to win our fifth straight GLIAC title and we did that, now we have our mindset on the playoffs," added Martin.

The Laker starting defense was sensational, limiting the nations leading rusher, Joique Bell, to just 74 yards on 19 carries. When the starting defense left the game for GVSU Bell had 13 carries for 20 yards. Bell was held under the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time during the 2009 season and the first time in the last 13 games. The Laker starting defensive unit held Wayne State to 249 yards in three quarters of action. GVSU tallied 11 tackles for loss (-51 yards) and seven QB sacks (-34). Victor notched seven tackles, two QB sacks (-7), two tackles for loss and an interception, while Deon Reed added seven tackles. Jake McGuckin chipped in seven tackles, while Danny Richard added six tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss (-10), 2.0 QB sacks (-5) and blocked a field goal. Shorkey recorded six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss (-7), 1.0 QB sacks (-5), returned an interception 16 yards for a TD and notched a QB hurry.

The Grand Valley State senior class improved to 41-1 in regular season games and 48-3 overall. Berezik moved into second all-time in rushing yards at GVSU with 3,508 and is just eight yards away from breaking Michael Tennessee's all-time mark of 3,515. Smolen upped his all-purpose mark to 5,238 yards (1,973 rushing/2,021 receiving/1,244 KO returns). Iciek upped his passing total to 7,636 yards and 89 TDs, while his total offense now stands at 7,829 yards.