Highlights
Postgame Press Conference

Grand Valley State's 28-24 fourth quarter comeback win over a talented Delta State squad Saturday night at Lubbers Stadium before a crowd of 10,680 will be etched in the memory bank for years to come. The Lakers overcame three 10 point deficits, the third (24-14) coming in the fourth quarter with 9:52 remaining in the game. GVSU, now 2-0 on the year, will hit the road for the GLIAC opener at Northwood next Saturday (Sept. 21) for a 1 p.m. kickoff. 

The Lakers trailed 24-14 after a Delta State touchdown with 9:52 remaining, but redshirt freshman backup quarterback Cade Peterson, who was in for the injured Cole Kotopka, led two fourth quarter touchdown drives. Peterson finished the first drive with a 2-yard TD run on fourth down with 5:19 left to pull Grand Valley State within three, then following an Antonio Strong interception and 26 yard return, Peterson drove the Lakers 21 yards in two plays as sophomore Aryuan Cain-Veasey went the final nine yards for a touchdown. The GVSU defense was able to come up with a stop on fourth down with 1:41 remaining to preserve the win. 

"Wow, that was a crazy game when you look back at all the twists and turns," said head coach Matt Mitchell. "We faced a lot of adversity, some self inflicted and some due to injuries, but every player on the field continued to play and in the end we made enough plays to pull out a win," added Mitchell.

Delta State scored on its opening possession to take a 7-0 lead, then added a 42-yard field goal at the 13:36 mark of the second quarter to take a 10-0 lead. Following a Statesmen punt that was downed on the GVSU eight yard line, Kotopka go the offense rolling. He hit sophomore tight end Jayk Slager with an 18-yard completion, then hit redshirt freshman Daevon Anderson with a perfectly thrown post pass that went for 74 yards and a Laker touchdown. 

Delta State upped its lead to 17-7 with an interception return for a touchdown and following two more Laker turnovers the GVSU defense forced field goal attempts of 42 and 34 yards that were blocked and went wide right. Delta State opened the second half with a 10-play, 49-yard drive into Laker territory that ended with a third consecutive missed field goal. 

Following the missed field goal Peterson hit senior WR Austin Paritee with a screen pass that he took 75 yards for a touchdown to pull the Lakers with three points (17-14). The GVSU defense continued to grind and was able to come up with a game-saving goal line stand when Delta State had the ball first-and-goal from the one yard line. Four consecutive runs into the middle of line netted a -3 yards and GVSU thwarted the scoring opportunity. However, following a GVSU punt Delta State drove 61 yards in nine plays for a touchdown to take a 24-14 lead. 

The Laker offense finally got rolling on the touchdown that pulled GVSU withing three (24-21). The ground game churned out 41 yards and Peterson completed passes for 26 yards. Prior to Cain-Veasey's go ahead TD run, junior Bryce Young-Walls took a pitch from Peterson and raced 12 yards to the DSU nine-yard line. The GVSU defense forced four incomplete passes and recorded a sack on Delta State's final drive. 

Grand Valle State recorded 334 yards of total offense, 258 of which came through the air. Kotopka completed 6-of-13 passes for 157 yards and a TD, while Peterson was 3-for-8 for 101 yards and a TD. Young-Walls rushed for 51 yards on nine carries, followed by Cain-Veasey's 31 yards on 10 carries. Anderson hauled in two receptions for 119 yards and one TD, while Paritee pulled down three catches for 81 yards and a TD. Defensively, senior LB Isaiah Nkansah recorded the third-best tackle total in a single-game with 20 stops, while also adding two QB sacks (-10) and two TFL (-10). Sophomore Brendann Brown added 13 tackles. Senior punter Dan Madden averaged 45.8 yards on four punts.