#10 Grand Valley State claimed a 27-3 GLIAC road win at Northwood  Saturday (Sept. 21) and improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in GLIAC action. GVSU will continue league action at Michigan Tech next Saturday (Sept. 28). The Lakers led 13-3 at the half and dominated play in the third quarter with a pair to touchdowns for the final margin. 

The Grand Valley State defense forced a punt on the Timberwolves opening possession and the offense quickly got into motion with a 9-play, 58-yard drive that consumed 3:42. RS freshman QB Cade Peterson hit senior WR Austin Paritee with a 36-yard completion on third-and-11 and RS freshman kicker Josh Gorball hit the first field goal of his career from 29 yards out to give GVSU a 3-0 lead.  Northwood drove 43 yards in 11 plays and tied the game with a career-long 47 yard field goal by Parker Blust, but those are the only points on the day for the Timberwolves. 

Junior RB Bryce Young-Walls finished a 3-play, 84-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run and Gorball added the PAT for a 10-3 lead with 22 seconds left in the first quarter. Peterson hit RS freshman WR Daevon Anderson with a 52 yard completion and sophomore QB Nathan Barko then hit Paritee with a 41 yard completion to the Northwood one yard line prior to Young-Walls TD. Gorball added his second field goal of the day from 20 yards out to complete a 10-play, 58-yard drive to up the Laker advantage to 13-3 at the half. 

GVSU dominated the third quarter with two long scoring drives, the first a 15-play, 65-yard drive that took 6:36 off the clock and ended with a Peterson to Anderson 4-yard TD pass, followed by a 6-play, 80-yard scoring drive that took 2:37 off the clock and concluded with Anderson hauling in a 52-yard scoring pass from Peterson. The Lakers kept the ball on the ground in the fourth quarter for the final margin.

Northwood managed just 67 yards on 11 plays offensively in the second half, while GVSU rolled up 265 yards on 44 plays. GVSU rushed for 241 yards on 48 carries and passed for 236 yards on 11 completions. For the game Northwood tallied 168 yards on 53 plays. The Lakers held 33:55 - 26:05 advantage in time of possession. In addition, GVSU was 11-of-15 on third down conversions, including a perfect 8-for-8 in the second half. 

Young-Walls led the offense with 90 rushing yards and a TD on 23 carries, while RS freshman Tariq Reid rushed for 55 yards on eight carries in the Lakers' final possession. Peterson added 52 yards on 10 carries and completed 10-of-21 passes for 200 yards and two TDs. Anderson hauled in four receptions for 121 yards and two TDs, followed up by Paritee catching four passes for 88 yards. 

The Laker defense recorded 13 tackles for loss (-58) and five QB sacks (-30) on the day. Sophomore LB Brendann Brown led the way with 10 tackles, two QB sacks (-7) and three tackles for loss (-9). Junior DE Jake Hlava chipped in five tackles a QB sack (-7) and 2.5 tackles for loss (-9), while junior LB Tyler Bradfield added five stops a QB sack (-12) and tackle for loss (-12). DT Kurrell Vaughn added four tackles.