Sept. 26, 2009

Box Score

Houghton, Mich. - No. 1 ranked Grand Valley State cruised to a 55-7 GLIAC road win at Michigan Tech Saturday (Sept. 26) night. The Lakers jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back in the first-ever night game at Michigan Tech. Grand Valley State will host Tiffin next Saturday (Oct. 3) at 7 p.m. in Lubbers Stadium. The Family Day game is a "White Out".

The Lakers started fast as Blake Smolen took the opening kickoff 71 yards to the Michigan Tech 10 yard line. The 71-yard return moved Smolen past the career 1,000-yard kickoff return mark and put him in the record books as the first Laker with more than 1,000 yards in rushing, receiving and kickoff returns. In addtion, Smolen is just the fourth player in DII football history to accomplish the feat in those categories. RB James Berezik scored two plays later and the Lakers led 7-0 after Justin Trumbles PAT. Senior QB Brad Iciek drove the Lakers 87 yards in nine plays and hit WR Mike Koster with a 10 yard TD pass to up the lead to 14-0. GVSU upped its lead to 21-0 after Iciek hit WR Ryan Bass with a 26 yard TD pass one play after SS Zach Breen picked off a Michigan Tech pass.

"I wanted to start fast and we did just that with Blake's (Smolen) return and then a nice drive followed by a quick strike TD," said GVSU head coach Chuck Martin. "We were efficient on offense for the most part and our running game got into gear with Jimmy (Berezik), P.T. (Gates) and Justin (Sherrod)," added Martin.

Following a Michigan Tech score, Iciek hit Bass with a screen pass that covered 33 yards and concluded a five-play, 60-yard drive. GVSU used the running game to move 48 yards in six plays as RB P.T. Gates scored from a yard out to up the Laker lead to 35-7. Sophomore defensive end Blair Hollis then put the finishing touches on a dominating first half when he returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown. GVSU led 41-7 at the break.

The Laker reserves finished the second quarter and played the entire second half. Justin Sherrod scored on a 40 yard run in the third quarter and WR Carlos Clark closed the scoring with a one-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

"It was a good win," said Martin. "Michigan Tech was playing a little short handed without Short (Steve) and Milbrath (Phil), but I was pleased we came out with intensity and made the plays we needed to make," added Martin.

Grand Valley State rushed for a season-high 311 yards on 43 carries, including a career-high 108 yards on 10 carries from senior P.T. Gates. Sherrod rushed for 95 yards on 12 carries and Berezik toted the ball 11 times for 80 yards. Iciek completed 6-of-9 passes for 107 yards and three TD, while reserve Marquel Neasman hit on 5-of-8 for 78 yards. Koster caught three passes for 33 yards and one TD, while Bass hauled in two passes for 59 yards and two TDs. Israel Woolfork caught two passes for 54 yards, including a career-long reception of 41 yards.

The Laker defense tallied nine tackles for loss and four QB sacks, led by Ricky Shorkey's eight tackles, 2.5 TFL (-14) and one QB sack (-11). Gary Anderson led the defense in total tackles with nine. The Laker defense forced four Michigan Tech turnovers and limited the Huskies to 294 yards of total offense.

Notes...GVSU is 93-7 in its last 100 games with four National Championships (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006). The Lakers are 113-7 in their last 120 games and 89-3 in its last 92 regular season games.

• The 2009 GVSU senior class is 43-2 with one National Championship and three GLIAC titles. In addition, the 2009 senior class has not lost a regular season game (36-0)

• Grand Valley State has won 47 consecutive regular season games. The Lakers' last regular season loss was 10/23/04 to Northwood (35-14)...Including the last six games of the 2000 season, the Lakers are 59-3 at home, 48-3 in their last 51 road games and 50-4 in all games away from Lubbers Stadium in their last 54.

• The American Football Coaches Association has released 115 polls since the 2001 season and GVSU has been ranked No. 1 78 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 77 of the last 101 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 99 times and top 10 104 times.

• Grand Valley State is 77-3 in its last 80 GLIAC games. The Lakers have won a GLIAC record record 44 straight GLIAC games dating back to the 2004 season. GVSU also held the previous record of 29 from 2001 - 2003. The Lakers' last GLIAC loss was a 35-14 decision to Northwood on 10/23/04 at Lubbers Stadium.