Highlights
Press Conference


#10 Grand Valley State claimed a 45-24 victory over #14 Wisconsin-La Crosse Saturday (Sept. 18) afternoon before a crowd of 9,658 at Lubbers Stadium. The Lakers improve to 2-0 on the year, while UW-La Crosse falls to 2-1. GVSU will hit the road to Michigan's upper peninsula next Saturday for a non-conference contest against Michigan Tech (1-1). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and all of the action can be heard live on WLAV 96.9.
 
The start for GVSU was impressive as the Lakers drove 73 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. The big play of the drive was a 42-yard pass-and-catch from QB Cade Peterson to WR Hunter Rison. Peterson then completed passes to freshman receiver Darrell Johnson (7 yards) and junior TE Scott Cooper (11 yards). Sophomore RB Tariq Reid finished the drive with a 2-yard TD run and PK Josh Gorball added the PAT for a 7-0 Laker lead. The Laker defense forced a punt and GVSU took possession of the ball on its 25-yard line, however, Peterson was picked off on the first play of the drive and the Eagles drove 54 yards in nine plays for a touchdown. 
 
The Lakers lost a fumble on first down of their next possession and the Eagles struck quickly with a 30-yard TD pass to build a 14-7 lead. The Laker offense went three-and-out and UW-La Crosse drove 81 yards in 16 plays for a 26-yard field goal to take a 17-7 lead.
 
Following a Grand Valley State missed field goal, the GV defense got a much-needed three-and-out and force an Eagle punt. Peterson connected with Rison on the second play of the drive, this one covering 65 yards and resulting in a touchdown to spark the Laker sideline. 
 
Senior DT Xavier Washington batted a pass that junior LB Brendann Brown picked off returned to the UW-La Crosse 39-yard line. The Laker offense drove 39 yards for touchdown, with Aryuan Cain-Veasey going the final two yards. The GVSU offensive line started to take control with 38 of the 39 yards coming via the ground game to give the Lakers a 21-17 lead. 
 
The Laker offense started quickly in the third quarter as Peterson scampered 69 yards on the first play. Junior RB Jack Provencher toted the ball three times for 16 yards and a 1-yard TD to up the GVSU lead to 28-17. Gorball then finished a 13-play, 79-yard drive with a 23-yard field goal to extend the Laker advantage to 31-17.
 
The turnover bug hit again and UW-La Crosse took advantage of a short field for a TD follwoing a fumble. 
 
Grand Valley State drove 72 yards in five plays for a touchdown, with the final 20 yards coming on a Peterson to Daevon Anderson pass and catch for a TD. Peterson connected with redshirt freshman bother, Drew Peterson, on a 22-yard completion earlier in the drive. The Lakers concluded the scoring with a Young-Walls 29-yard touchdown run for the final margin of 45-24. 
 
Cain-Veasey (1,026) and Young-Walls (1,036) each eclipsed the 1,000-yard career rushing mark, becoming the 37^th and 38^th to reach the milestone. 
 
Peterson led the rushing attack with 89 yards on four carries, while Young-Walls added 88 on 12 carries and Reid 86 on 14 carries. Cain-Veasey added 38 rushing yards on seven carries as the Lakers rushed for 320 yards on 42 attempts. GVSU tallied 534 yards of total offense on the afternoon. 
 
Peterson completed 12-of-17 passes for 214 yards and two TDs. Rison caught two passes for 107 yards and a TD, while Cooper, Anderson and Juwan Johnson each hauled in two receptions. Jacob Miller chipped in 124 kickoff return yards. 
 
Sophomore LB Abe Swanson led the defense with a career-high 10 tackles, followed by junior DT Seth Hoonhorst's seven tackles, 1.5 TFL and a QB sack. Brown picked off a pass and tallied six stops.