GVSU Football Highlights

Press Conference

The #2-ranked Grand Valley State football team claimed a 29-10 victory over #17 Saginaw Valley State Saturday in the Battle of the Valleys before a crowd of 14,877 at Lubbers Stadium. GVSU improves to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in GLIAC action, while the Cardinals fall to 4-1 and 0-1. GVSU now owns a 40-11 advantage in the all-time series, won 10 in a row versus the Cardinals and 18-of-the-last-19 dating back to 2005. The Lakers also improved to 305-77-3 all-time in GLIAC action. 
 
Saginaw Valley State got on the board first with an opening possession 6-play, 70-yard drive that took just 2:04 off the clock. The big play was a 49-yard run by Isaiah Malcome and QB Andrew Brito hit WR Jairus Gissom with an 8-yard TD pass. 
 
The Lakers turned the ball over on their next possession to set up the Cardinals on the GVSU 28-yard line, but the GVSU defense held and forced a field goal attempt that Connor Luksic pushed wide left. From that point on Grand Valley State dominated the game in every facet. SVSU managed just 156 yards on 57 plays (2.7 ypp) for the rest of the game, while GVSU rolled up 376 yards (53 plays-7.1 ypp) and 29 points after its first three possessions. 
 
GVSU needed just four plays to get 47 yards for its first TD of the game. Sophomore WR Cody Tierney scamped 32 yards on a reverse to the Cardinal four-yard line and sophomore WR Jahdae Walker went the final four yards for a TD on jet sweep pass. The drive was set up by a 17-yard punt return from sophomore WR Darrell Johnson that gave the Lakers the ball on the Cardinal 47-yard line. 
 
The Lakers put together a 9-play, 80-yard scoring drive that sophomore QB Avery Moore finished with a 20-yard TD run and sophomore place kicker Kollin Kralapp drilled a 39-yard field as time expired in the first half to up the Laker advantage to 16-7. 
 
Junior QB Cade Peterson hit senior WR Jacob Miller with a 58-yard touchdown pass with 5:43 left in the third quarter and redshirt freshman RB Syone Usma-Harper concluded the scoring for the Lakers with a 15-yard TD run with 12:18 left in the game after SVSU had kicked a 44-yard field goal late in the third quarter.
 
The Laker defense dominated the game, holding SVSU 198 yards below its season rushing average and 241 yards below its total offense average. The Cardinals had seven drives that consisted of four plays or seven drives that produced 10 yards or less. Junior LB Abe Swanson led the defense with 12 tackles, 1.0 TFL (-5) and an interception, while DE Christian McCarroll added seven stops, 1.0 QB sack (-14) and 2.0 TFL (-15). Junior safety Cole Patritto chipped in seven tackles and redshirt freshman Anthony Cardamone tallied four tackles, a QB sack (-16) and a TFL (-16). CB Nyzier Fourqurean was solid with an interception and three pass breakups. 
 
Offensively, the Lakers rushed for 235 yards, 193 over the average allowed by SVSU entering the game, and recorded 399 yards of total offense, 168 over the average allowed by the Cardinals in their first four games. Usma-Harper rushed for 59 yards and a TD on seven carries, while junior Tariq Reid added 57 yards on 15 carries. Moore chipped in 39 yards and a TD on six carries. Peterson completed 11-of-16 passes for 164 yards and two TDs, while Tierney led the receiving unit with three catches for 32 yards. 
 
Redshirt freshman punter Trace Hrgich averaged 48.5 yards on four punts with a long of 61 yards and two that pinned the Cardinals inside their 20-yard line.