Oct. 1, 2011

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Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State claimed a 70-7 victory over Tiffin Saturday (Oct. 1) night at Lubbers Stadium before a Family Day crowd of 9,173. GVSU improves to 2-3 overall and 1-3 in GLIAC action, while Tiffin falls to 0-5 and 0-4. GVSU will be at Northern Michigan next Saturday (Oct. 8) for a 1 p.m. tilt.

Grand Valley State unleashed three weeks of misery in the first half versus Tiffin, scoring on 6-of-7 first half possessions to build a 42-0 lead. The Laker starting offense played just one possession in the second half, driving 60 yards in four plays for a score. The GVSU number two defense played the entire second half half.

Tiffin's opening drive of the game proved to be its most successful of the game as the Dragons drove 49 yards in nine plays into GVSU territory. However, the Laker defense held on downs and turned the ball over to the Laker offense. QB Heath Parling hit RB Michael Ratay with an 11-yard swing pass on the first play and the Laker offense was off and running. Parling hit WR Greg Gay with a a 13-yard pass and catch on third and five, followed by a 38 yard TD pass from Parling to RB Norman Shuford. PK Ryan Stokes kicked the first of his seven PATs for a 7-0 GVSU lead. Following a Tiffin three and out, sophomore running back Hersey Jackson rambled 27 yards and Parling followed with a 19-yard TD run as the Lakers took just 49 seconds off the clock to up their lead to 14-0.

Senior WR Jovonne Augustus finished a 7-play, 72-yard drive with a one yard TD catch with under a minute left in the first quarter to give GVSU a 21-0 lead. The Lakers scored 21 points in the second quarter, the first coming on a 22-yard pass and catch from Parling to junior WR Charles Johnson. Following a Laker fumble recovery on the Tiffin five yard line, Jackson scored from five yards out to give GVSU a 35-0 lead.

Parling guided the Laker offense on yet another first half scoring drive, this one covering 80 yards in nine plays. Johnson hauled in a 34-yard scoring pass from Parling with just 15 seconds on the clock and Stokes added the PAT for a 42-0 Laker halftime lead. GVSU rolled up 354 yards of total offense in the first half, including 254 passing yards.

The GVSU starting offense opened the second half with a 4-play, 60-yard scoring drive as Parling hit Augustus with a 26 yard TD pass. The TD pass was Parling's fifth of the night and completed play for the GVSU starting offense.

The Lakers' second offensive unit continued to roll as freshman QB Isiah Grimes guided GVSU on a 4-play, 70-yard scoring drive. Grimes hit freshman receiver Keontre Miskel with a 9-yard scoring pass and freshman PK Marco Iaderosa kicked the first of his three PATs. Ratay hit paydird on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 1 yard TD run, while sophomore RB Billy Seiler toted the ball nine straight times for 50 yards and scored on a 4 yard TD run with 3:31 left in the game.

GVSU rolled up 629 yards of total offense, 229 on the ground and 400 through the air. The Lakers averaged 10.0 yards per play, including 17.4 yards per pass completion. The GVSU defense limited Tiffin to just 218 yards of total offense.

Parling completed 17-of-22 passes for 298 yards and five TDs, all career highs. Grimes completed 6-of-9 passes for 102 yards and one TD. Grimes was picked off on a deflected pass. Johnson caught a career-high eight passes for a career-high 158 yards and two TDs. Miskel added three catches for 50 yards and a TD, while Augustus pulled in three passes for 35 yards and two TDs. Gay added two receptions for 51 yards, while Shuford chipped in two receptions for 42 yards. Sieler pulled down two catches for 39 yards.

Jackson led the ground game with 89 yards and one TD on eight carries, while Seiler chipped in 85 yards on 14 carries. Seiler tallied 124 all-purpose yards.

Senior LB Brad Howard led the defense with seven tackles, while freshman LB Antonio Hutchins picked up six tackles and a 1.5 TFL in his first action as a Laker. DB Devonte Jones, LB Jordon Kauffman and DB Derek Knight each notched five tackles. GVSU recorded 6.0 TFL (-37) and 4.0 QB sacks (-30).