GVSU Football Highlights

GVSU Press Conference 

The No. 1-ranked Grand Valley State Lakers claimed a 56-3 Homecoming victory over Northern Michigan Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 11,812 at Lubbers Stadium. The Lakers improve to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in GLIAC action. GVSU will hit the road with a GLIAC tilt at Michigan Tech next Saturday (Oct. 29). 

Grand Valley State dominated the game in every facet of defense, offense and special teams. The Laker defense held the Wildcats to seven first downs, 146 yards of total offense and just 18 rushing yards, while the GVSU offense tallied 478 yards of total offense, 268 via the rush and 210 through the air. In addition, the Lakers rolled up 187 yards on punt and kickoff return yards. GVSU ran for five TDs, passed for two and got a special teams TD on a punt return as seven different players scored.
 
Sophomore WR Darrell Johnson got the Lakers on the board first with an 87 punt return for a TD. The 87 yard return is the second longest in GVSU program history (Reggie Williams 90 yards vs. Western Oregon; Scott Mackey 87 yards at Mercyhurst) and the first return for a TD since Juwan Johnson returned a punt for a TD in the season-opener versus Colorado State-Pueblo in 2021. PK Kollin Kralapp added the first of his four PATs for a 7-0 lead. Northern Michigan's only points came midway through the first quarter on a 39-yard field goal that culminated an 8-play, 44-yard drive. 

Junior RB Tariq Reid scored on runs of 2 and 12 yards in the opening half, while sophomore WR Cody Tierney added a 14-yard TD run. Sophomore QB hit sophomore TE Drew Peterson with a 3-yard TD late in the second quarter to give the Lakers a 35-3 lead. Sophomore WR Jaylon Tillman hauled in a 3-yard TD pass from junior QB Cade Peterson for the only points in the third quarter, followed by fourth quarter TD runs of two yards by Cal Endicott and three yards by Armani Moreno. 

Reid led the running game with 58 yards and two TDs on 10 carries, while Peterson added 56 yards on eight carries and junior RB Johnt'e Crawford added 38 yards on six carries. Peterson completed 11-of-18 passes for 133 yards and Endicott chipped in with 74 yards on three completions. Senior RB Jack Provencher hauled in three catches for 54 yards, while redshirt freshman Jordan Johnson added two catches for 59 yards. All four Laker tight ends caught a pass for 33 combined yards and a TD. Darrell Johnson tallied 171 punt and kickoff return yards. 

Junior LB Abe Swanson led the defense with seven tackles, a TFL (-6) and a QB sack (-6), while redshirt freshman Jimmy Downs added five stops. DE Colton Hyble and LB Denzel Williams each recorded a sack for the Lakers. GVSU recorded seven QB hurries and four pass breakups.