Nov. 5, 2011

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 Post Game Press Conference |  Rubick's View

Midland, Mich. - Grand Valley State jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead and never looked back en route a 35-10 victory over Northwood Saturday (Nov. 5) afternoon in Midland. The Lakers improve to 7-3 overall and 6-3 in GLIAC action. GVSU will host Saginaw Valley State next Saturday (Nov. 12) in the regular season finale at Lubbers Stadium.

GVSU opened the scoring late in the first quarter as sophomore QB Heath Parling hit junior WR Charles Johnson with a 16 yard TD pass to conclude a 7-play, 91-yard drive that took 2:28 off the clock. Parling hit freshman RB Michael Ratay with a 9-yard completion on a fourth and five play to keep the drive moving.

Sophomore safety Erik Thompson blocked a Northwood punt on the Timberwolves ensuing possession and the Lakers drove 20 yards in five plays for a TD. Parling hit senior WR Jovonne Augustus with a 2 yard TD pass on the first play of the second quarter and Stokes added his second PAT for a 14-0 GVSU lead The Laker defense continued to dominate Northwood's offense and forced a Northwood punt. GVSU drove 50 yards in 7 plays for a score as Parling hit Johnson with a screen pass that he took 21 yards to paydirt. Stokes' PAT upped the GVSU lead to 21-0 with 5:14 left in the first half.

GVSU added another score with 36.9 seconds left in the first half as Parling hit Johnson for the third time in the first half, this one covering 22 yards that finished an 8-play, 77-yard drive. Stokes added his fourth PAT for a 28-0 halftime lead.

Northwood scored the only points of the third quarter on a 46 yard field goal by Alex Faust and the Timberwolves actually pulled to with a 28-10 score following a 14-play, 75-yard drive that took 8:45 off the clock. Cameron Jackson finished the drive with a 3 yard TD run and Faust added the PAT.

GVSU concluded the scoring with a 51 yard TD run by Ratay with 1:53 on the clock. Ratay's TD run concluded a 3-play, 69-yard drive that took 1:37 off the clock.

GVSU toted the ball 32 times for 271 yards and one TD, highlighted by Ratay's career-best 105-yard outing on nine carries. Freshman RB Chris Robinson rushed seven times for 57 yards, while Hersey Jackson added 56 yards on 10 carries. Parling completed 10-of-20 passes for 164 yards and four TDs, while also rushing for 53 yards on six carries.

Johnson hauled in five catches for 103 yards, while Ratay added 48 receiving yards on three catches.

Sophomore LB Zach Galloway led the GVSU defense with 11 tackles and 2.0 TFL, while senior DB Zach Breen, sophomore DB Charles Hill and junior DL Denzel Rodgers each tallied eight tackles. Senior DT Andre Thomas notched two TFL and QB sack among his three tackles. Sophomore safety Erik Thompson notched seven tackles, picked off a pass and blocked a punt.

The Laker defense limited Northwood to 215 yards of total offense, all on the ground. Northwood did not complete a pass (0-for-5) on the afternoon.

Notes...QB Heath Parling has a 220.65 pass efficiency rating the last six games. During that 5-game stretch he has 24 TD passes and just one interception...Parling's 33 TD passes this season ranks fifth all-time in a single-season behind Curt Anes (48 an 47), Cullen Finnerty (41) and Brad Iciek (35)...and WR Charles Johnson has 51 receptions for 977 yards and 14 TDs. His 14 TD receptions is fourth on the single-season list behind David Kircus (35 and 28) and Eric Fowler (22).