GVSU Postgame Press Conference

#4 Grand Valley State claimed a 65-7 victory over Kentucky State Saturday night before a crowd of 11,679 at Lubbers Stadium. The Lakers move to 4-1 on the year and will host Ferris State next Saturday at Lubbers Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and all of the action can be seen on FloSport or WXSP-TV Grand Rapids. The game is officially sold out.

GVSU scored early and often offensively, while the Laker defense continued to dominate and the special teams unit scored another touchdown. Nine different players scored touchdowns and senior DE Chrisitan McCarroll recorded a safety. The defense limited Kentucky State to 154 yards of total offense, including -22 rushing yards on 21 attempts. In addition, the defense tallied 11 tackles for loss (-61), seven QB sacks (-49) and limited the Thorobreds to 10 drives that consisted of five plays or less. 

The Laker defense forced a turnover on the second play of the game when sophomore LB Anthony Cardamone picked off a pass at the Grand Valley State 47 yard line. Senior QB Cade Peterson hit junior TE Gavin Cossou with a 16 yard completion to convert a third down and senior RB Tariq Reid tallied runs of 25 and 10-yards, the later hitting paydirt to give GVSU a 6-0 lead. PK Josh Gorball hit the first of his nine PATs for a 7-0 lead. 

Following a Kentucky State punt the Laker offense needed just four plays to go 89 yards for a touchdown. Reid had rushes of four and 14 yards and Peterson hit junior WR Cody Tierney with a 24-yard completion. Peterson then hit junior WR Kyle Nott with a perfectly thrown 47-yard pass for a touchdown and the Lakers led 14-0. Peterson finished a 5-play, 49-your ard drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cossou and the Laker defense got in on the scoring when KSU was pinned deep in its own territory. Senior DE Christian McCarroll sacked QB Christian Perez in the endzone for a safety to give GVSU a  23-0 lead. Right offensive tackle Jordan Davis got in on the scoring when he took a lateral from Peterson and scored on a 1-yard run to up the Laker lead to 30-0. Big plays continued to be the theme of the day when Avery Moore directed a 5-plays, 73-yard scoring drive. Moore dropped a perfectly thrown pass in the outstretched arms of Donovan Johnson for a 36-yard touchdown. 

The first half ended with Kentucky State attempting a 51-yard field goal that defensive end Charlie Nylander blocked. CB Grant Hart fielded the blocked field goal and returned it 96 yards for a touchdown and 44-7 lead at the half. Junior RB Sam Plate ended an 11-play, 70-yard scoring drive with a one-yard TD run, while sophomore quarterback Vinnie Meschi directed an 11-play, 79-yard scoring drive that concluded with a Meschi to sophomore WR Stone Smeenge for a 21-yard touchdown. The scoring concluded with freshman RB Kenneth Jones recording runs of 27, 6 and 22-yards, the later for a touchdown.

The Laker offense rushed 45 times for 388 yards and four TDs, while four quarterbacks completed 13-of-16 passes for 280 yards. 

Jones led the ground game with seven carries for 95 yards and a touchdown, while Nott tallied 68 yards on one carry. Reid chipped in 57 yards and a TD, followed by Syone Usma-Harper rushing for 57 yards and Khalil Eichelberger rushed for 55 yards on six carries. 

Cossou caught three passes for 37 yards and a TD, while Jordan Johnson added two catches for 62 yards. Donovan Johnson, Smeenge and Tierney each caught two passes. Nott caught one pass for 47 yards and Darrell Johnson pulled down one reception for 23 yards. 

Peterson was 7-for-7 for 132 yards and two TDs, Alex Thole was 2-for-4 for 62 yards, Meschi was 3-for-4 for 50 yards and a TD and Avery Moore was 1-for-1 for 36 yards. 

McCarroll led the defense with four tackles, 1.0 QB sack (-3) and 2.0 TFL (-6), while LB Jack Grice added four stops and a QB sack (-2). Luke McLean, Riley Simpson and Jayleen Fitzpatrick  each collected four stops.