Dec. 5, 2009

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Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State (13-1)advanced to the 2009 NCAA DII Football National Championship game Saturday with 41-27 victory over Carson-Newman before a crowd of 7,247 at Lubbers Stadium in semifinal action. GVSU, playing its sixth NCAA DII title game since 2001, will square off against the winner of the Northwest Missouri State-California (Pa.) contest next Saturday (Dec. 12) in Florence, Ala.

Following a Carson-Newman punt that was downed on the Grand Valley State 32 yard line, senior RB P.T. Gates raced 59 yards to the Eagle 9-yard line on the Lakers' first offensive play. However, three straight incompletions to WR Ryan Bass forced a Justin Trumble 26 yard field goal at the at the 10:18 mark of the first quarter. Junior DB Matt Bakker picked of an Alex Good pass at the Carson-Newman 44 yard line, but the GVSU was unable to do anything with the good field position. Following a Laker punt, senior safety Jacob McGuckin picked of a Good pass at the Eagle 25 yard line and returned it for a touchdown. Trumble added the PAT for 10-0 GVSU lead. The momentum was short lived at Carson-Newman's Buck Wakefield returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a TD. Calos Lopez added the PAT and the Eagles trailed by three (10-7). After trading punts, the Lakers took over at their own 37 yard line late in the first quarter. Junior RB Justin Sherrod opened the drive with a 17 yard run, followed by a short pass to P.T. Gates that went 31 yards to the Carson-Newman 15 yard line. Senior QB Brad Iciek toted the ball twice for 12 yards before Gates finished the drive with a three yard TD run. Trumble added the PAT for a 17-7 GVSU lead.

The Laker defense continued to hold the nations leading rushing attack in check and Gates returned an Eagle punt 24 yards to the GVSU 41 yard line. Sherrod opend the drive with a 22 yard run and the drive concluded with a seven yard TD pass from Iciek to junior WR Ryan Bass. Trumble booted his third PAT of the night to up the Laker lead to 24-7. Carson-Newman needed just five plays to move 60 yards for a TD to cut the GVSU lead to 10 points (24-14). Grand Valley State responded with an 11-play, 50-yard drive that consumed 5:24 off the clock. Trumble kicked a 30 yard field goal to give Grand Valley State a 27-14 halftime lead.

The Lakers downed a Trumble punt on the Carson-Newman one yard line and the Eagles were only able to gain four yards before a Chris Jones punt that went only 26 yards and was downed on the Eagle 29 yard line. GVSU struck quickly as Iciek hit WR Blake Smolen with a 29 yard TD pass to give the Lakers a 34-14 lead. Carson-Newman scored late in the third quarter when Wakefield finished an 8-play, 48-yard drive with a five-yard TD run, but the snap was fumbled on the PAT to keep the Laker lead at 14 points (34-20).

Carson-Newman drove to the Laker 23 yard line early in the fourth quarter, but a Nate Inman fumble was recovered by LB Ricky Shorkey. GVSU used 4:03 of the fourth quarter clock before Trumble pinned the Eagles inside the five yard line one more time. Carson-Newman was eventually forced to punt and the Lakers took possession of the ball on their own 29 yard line with 6:51 left in the game. Gates opened the drive with runs of 12 and 13 yards, followed by a personal four by the Eagles. Sherrod went for five yards before Gates finished the drive with a 27 yard TD run to punch the Lakers' ticket to Florence. Carson-Newman scored a late TD for the final margin of 41-27.

The Laker defense held the nations leading rushing attack in check. Carson-Newman came into the contest averaging 349.5 yards per game, but the GVSU defense limited the Eagles to 177 yards on 43 carries. Carson-Newman managed just 278 total yards on the day. LB Justin Victor led the defense with 10 tackles and a forced fumble, while DL Danny Richard tallied nine tackles, two QB sacks (-8), two tackles for loss (-8) and two QB hurries. DT Steve Gawronski added a career-high nine tackles and LB Brad Howard added nine stops.

P.T. Gates rushed for a career-high 187 yards on 28 carries, caught four passes for 70 yards and added 73 return yards for 326 all-purpose yards. Justin Sherrod rushed six times for 52 yards and Iciek chipped in 44 yards on eight carries. Iciek converted 8-of-19 passes for 118 yards and two TDs. Carson-Newman's Buck Wakefield led the Eagle rushing attack with 119 yads on 20 carries.

Notes...Grand Valley State improved to 17-1 at home in the NCAA playoffs since 2001, including a 5-0 mark in semifinal games...RB P.T. Gates set a GVSU playoff record with 326 all-purpose yards vs. Carson-Newman...The GVSU senior class improved to 51-3 ...GVSU is 121-8 in their last 129 games.