Sept. 14, 2013
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Postgame Press Conference | Game Highlights
ALLENDALE, Mich. - The 10th-ranked Grand Valley State football team rolled up 565 yards of total offense and held Truman State to only 219 yards of total offense en route to a 31-15 victory in front of 10,696 fans at Lubbers Stadium on Saturday (Sept. 14) night.
The Lakers, now 2-0 on the season, will take on Tiffin in their GLIAC opener next Saturday (Sept. 21) at 7 p.m. in Lubbers Stadium for Military Appreciation Night.
The story of the day for GVSU was big plays, as the Lakers racked up 12 plays over 20 yards on the day, including eight pass plays, five of which went to senior wide receiver Brandan Green.
In the first quarter, GVSU had only one possession but made the most of it. After Truman State fielded the opening kickoff, the Bulldogs ate up nearly half the first quarter clock but were held off the board. The Lakers got the ball for the first time with only 7:35 to play in the first quarter and used only 2:11 on the clock to score. The five-play drive was keyed by a 39 yard pass from junior Isiah Grimes to Green and it was topped off with a two-yard touchdown run by junior Michael Ratay to make it 7-0 with 5:24 to play.
Truman State answered on its next two drives, getting a 43-yard field goal from Derek Koon with 14:20 to play in the second quarter to make it 7-3, and after a three-and-out on the ensuing Laker drive, Koon booted a 26-yard field to make it a 7-6 game with 8:54 to play in the half.
The Lakers gave themselves breathing room on the next drive, which began with a 51-yard pass from Grimes to Green down to the Truman State 23 yard line. Six rushes on the next seven plays resulted in a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Ratay with 4:53 to play in the half as GVSU led 14-6.
The Bulldogs got on the board with another field goal with only a minute to play, as Koon booted a 45-yard field goal to cut the lead to 14-9 as the teams went in to the locker room at halftime.
Truman State went in to halftime with 151 yards of total offense, while GVSU went in with 192. Those numbers would vary greatly in the second half, as Truman State managed only 68 yards of total offense in the entire second half, while GVSU had 373 yards in the second half.
GVSU opened the second half with another scoring drive, as freshman Joel Schipper was good on a field goal from 21 yards out to make it 17-9 with 10:26 to play in the third quarter.
After the Laker defense forced a three-and-out by Truman State, it took only four plays for GVSU to punch it in to the endzone again, another drive that was keyed by a long play from Grimes to Green, this time for 33 yards. Grimes then found sophomore Jamie Potts on a fade in the back corner of the endzone from three yards out to make the score 24-9 GVSU with 7:01 to play in the third.
Truman State answered on the ensuing drive with a 9-play, 44-yard drive that ate up 4:38 of clock and ended with a touchdown pass from Conrad Schottel to Dallas Grier, the only touchdown of the game for the Bulldogs. At that point, the lead was 24-15 for GVSU with 2:23 left in the third quarter after the two-point conversion was batted down.
The Lakers answered with a big play yet again on the next drive, as Grimes hit Green with a 61-yard touchdown strike on the second play of the drive to up the lead to 31-15 with 1:29 left in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter would be a stalwart on the scoreboard, as the Lakers controlled the ball for 12:48 of the 15 minutes and nailed down the victory at 31-15.
Green was the highlight of the game, catching six passes for 223 yards (37.2 yds/catch) and a touchdown. The 223 yards is the third-most in a single game in GVSU history and the second-most in Lubbers Stadium history. His performance helped Grimes finish with 339 passing yards on 15-of-23 passing with two touchdowns and one interception. The rushing game was led by junior Chris Robinson, who had 129 yards on 16 carries (8.1 yds/carry). Ratay finished with 62 yards and two touchdowns on the ground on 14 carries.
Defensively, junior Jack Sauber led the way with a team-high 10 tackles. Senior Luther Ware had eight tackles, including a bone-crushing sack. Junior Isiah Dunning in his first game of the year had six tackles, one sack (-9 yds) and two tackles for loss (-10 yds). The Laker defense as a whole had nine quarterback hurries in the game.
