Box Score

The #17 Grand Valley State football team needed a road win Saturday afternoon to remain in playoff contention and the Lakers got just that with a 49-42 GLIAC win at Tiffin. GVSU improves to 8-2 overall and 7-2 in GLIAC action, while the Dragons fall to 5-5 overall and 4-5 in GLIAC action. The Lakers will conclude the regular season portion of its schedule next Saturday (Nov. 14) at home versus Saginaw Valley State. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

It looked as though it was going to be an offensive shootout from the opening possession of the game. Tiffin drove 75 yards in 11 plays and took a 7-0 when QB Antonio Pipkin hit Charles Holland with a 20 yard TD pass. The Dragons picked up three key third down conversions to keep the drive alive. However, the Laker offense answered as Kirk Spencer finished a 5-play, 71-yard drive with a 1 yard TD run. Junior PK Joel Schipper added the PAT to tie the game at 7-7. QB Bart Williams hit freshman WR Nick Dodson with a 26 yard completion on the first play of the game, then hit Spencer and WR Matt Williams with completions that covered 22 and 17 yards. 

The GVSU defense forced a three-and-out and the offense went back to work, driving 70 yards in six plays for a score. Senior WR Jamie Potts moved into third on the all-time receptions list with a 33 yard TD reception from sophomore Williams to give the Lakers a 13-7 lead, but the PAT was wide left.

Tiffin answered and took a 14-13 lead, but Spencer returned the ensuing kickoff 46 yards to the Tiffin 49 yard line. Williams hit WR M. Williams with a 44 yard TD pass on the second play of the drive and Schipper added the PAT for a 20-14 GVSU lead.  

The GVSU defense got its second stop of the day when senior DE Matt Judon recovered a Pipkin fumble at the Tiffin 30 yard line. The Lakers drove 30 yards in five plays as B. Williams hit M. Williams with a 6 yard TD pass to up the Laker lead to 27-14 after the Schipper PAT.  

Tiffin drove 79 yards in 14 plays to pull within six (27-21) with 3:04 left in the first half as the scoring barrage continued. 

The Dragons ensuing kickoff went out of bounds and GVSU took over at the 35 yard line. B. Williams drove the Laker 65 yards in seven plays and hit freshman WR Nick Dodson with a 6 yard TD pass to up the lead to 34-21 with just over a minute left in the half. Tiffin scored with nine seconds left in the first half to make the halftime score 34-28 GVSU at the half.

The Dragon defense forced a turnover on the Lakers' opening possession of the second half and took a 35-34 lead with 10:29 left in the third quarter when Pipkin tossed his fourth TD pass of the afternoon. 

Following a defensive stop in which the Lakers tallied two QB sacks, the Laker offense drove 68 yards in nine plays for a go ahead TD. B. Williams hit Potts with a 9 yard TD pass on third down and B. Williams then hit M. Williams with the two-point conversion pass to give GVSU a 42-35 lead. The Laker defense then forced a fumble that David Talley recovered and offense went back to work. 

Spencer finished the 29 yard drive with a 9 yard TD run and Schipper added the PAT for a 49-35 lead. The key play in the drive was a 24 yard completion from B. Williams to M. Williams on third down to keep the drive alive. 

Tiffin added a late TD, but the Lakers ran out the clock to pick up the win. 

The Laker offense churned out 477 yards (171 rushing/306 passing) and averaged 8.5 yards per play. The Laker scoring drives were short as GVSU ran just 56 plays and held possession of the ball for 21:31. The Lakers faced just seven third downs, converting five. B. Williams completed 20-of-30 passes for 306 yards and five TDs on the afternoon, while Spencer rushed for 117 yards and caught four passes for 36 yards. In addition, Spencer returned two kickoffs 71 yards for an all purpose total of 224 yards. M. Williams caught a career-high eight passes for a career-high 158 receiving yards and two TDs. Potts hauled in five catches for 75 yards and two TDs and Dodson pulled down two receptions for 32 yards and a TD. 

Junior LB Marquez Gollman led the defense with 12 tackles, while Talley added 10 stops and recovered a fumble. CB Tre Walton and LB Collin Schlosser each contributed nine tackles. Senior DE Matt Judon notched five tackles, 3.5 QB sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss on the day. Judon became the GVSU all-time, single-season lead for QB sacks (18.0), passing former Laker great Mike McFadden (16.0). In addition, Judon moved into second on the career list with 32.0 QB sacks and is just 2.5 behind Dan Skuta (34.5).