The #8 Grand Valley State football team picked up a 21-10 road win over Gulf South foe Delta State Saturday (Sept. 8) evening before a crowd of 5,514 in Cleveland, Mississippi The Lakers improve to 2-0 on the year and will now stay on the road for a GLIAC matchup at Northern Michigan. 

"That was a gritty win by our team tonight," said head coach Matt Mitchell. "We did not play clean football and we faced a lot of adversity, but we stayed together in all three phases of the game to pick up the win."

The Laker defense held strong through the first quarter and limited Delta State to a first quarter field goal even though the Statesmen held the ball for much of the first quarter in Laker territory. A sluggish GVSU offense turned a blocked punt into a 7-3 lead. Senior LB Raju Blackmon knifed through and blocked a punt that led to a 6-play, 23-yard drive that junior RB Chawntez Moss ended with a 5-yard TD run to give GVSU a 7-3 halftime lead.

Following a muffed punt by a Delta State punt returner midway through the third quarter, senior QB Bart Williams hit WR Austin Paritee with an 11-yard TD pass to culminate a 2-play, 22-yard drive with 7:07 left in the third quarter and up the GVSU lead to 14-3. 

Delta State used a big play to pull within 14-10 with 2:41 left in the third quarter as QB Patrick Shegog raced 45 yards untouched for the score, but the Laker special team answered the bell once again. Another blocked punt put the Laker offense in great field position at the Delta State 30 yard line and on third-and-10 Williams hit Paritee on a post route over the middle at the 15 yard line that the junior wideout turned into a 31 yard touchdown and after the PAT upped the GVSU lead to 21-10. 

"I thought our defense really played well against a fast paced offense," added Mitchell. "We gave up yards between the 30 yard lines, but when we needed a stop they stepped up and forced a punt or field goal attempt."

The Laker defense limited Delta State to 325 total yards, including 110 through the air. Williams completed eight passes for 133 yards and two TDs, while Paritee hauled in four passes for 62 yards and two TDs. Moss led the ground game with 23 carries for 92 yards and a TD. Redshirt freshman Jack Provencher chipped in 89 yards on 19 carries. 

Dylan Carroll led the defense with a career-high 13 tackles, including three tackles for loss. Isaiah Nkansah added 11 tackles, Jailyn Harden chipped in nine stops and Tyler Bradfield seven tackles and two tackles for loss. Jonathon Williams picked up two sacks. 

Senior punter Collin Cribley averaged 45.3 yards on 11 punts.