#4 Grand Valley State claimed a 55-14 victory over Saginaw Valley State Saturday night in the 2023 edition of Battle of the Valleys. The victory marked the 11
th consecutive win for the Lakers in the series and 19
th in the last 20 dating back to 2005.
Grand Valley State dominated the game in every statistical category, but the game was still in question after SVSU's lone offensive touchdown in the third quarter that pulled the Cardinals within six point (20-14) with 3:25 left in the third quarter. However,
Kellen Reed returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown after a Cardinal penalty on the previous kickoff. The Laker defense forced another three-and-out and
Darrell Johnson returned the punt 57 yards for a touchdown to up the Laker lead to 34-14. Defensive end
Niles King forced a fumble on a sack that
Colton Hyble picked up and returned to the seven-yard line.
Syone Usma-Harper scored on a 2-yard run to push the lead to 41-14. The defense then got in on the scoring when sophomore safety
Luke McLean picked off a pass and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown.
Kyle Nott concluded the scoring with an 87-yard touchdown run with 12:01 left in the game.
Grand Valley State scored five touchdowns in every phase of the game from the 3:05 mark of the third quarter until the 12:01 mark of the fourth quarter.
GVSU dominated the first half defensively, holding Saginaw Valley State to no first downs and 18 yards of total offense. The Cardinals tallied 17 passing yards and -13 rushing yards.
Khalil Eichelberger finished an 8-play, 57-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard run for the first rushing touchdown of his career. The big play on the drive was a 44-yard completion from QB Cade Pederson to
Jordan Johnson. Place-kicker
Josh Gorball kicked the first of his two first-half field goals, this one covering 38 yards to up the Laker advantage to 10-0.
Grand Valley State needed just five plays to drive 71 yards for a touchdown that took 2:52 off the clock in the second quarter. Pederson hit tight end
Gavin Cossou with a 12-yard touchdown and Gorball added the PAT for a 17-0 lead. Peterson hit
Donovan Johnson with a 38-yard reception to set up the score. Gorball added a 36-yard field goal 3:47 left in the first half to build a 20-0 lead.
Saginaw Valley State's only points in the first half came in the fashion of a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:08 left in the second quarter.
Peterson completed 7-of-16 passes for 156 yards and one TD, while rushing for 21 yards. Nott led the rushing attack with 87 yards on his lone carry, followed by
Tariq Reid with 57 yards on nine rushes. Cossou caught two passes for 25 yards and a touchdown, while
Cody Tierney hauled in two receptions for 30 yards. GVSU rushed for 248 yards and passed for 163 yards.
Abe Swanson led the defense with six tackles, followed by
Damonte McCurdy with five stops and
Christian McCarroll with four tackles, a tackle for loss and a QB sack. The GVSU defense limited SVSU to 142 yards of total offense (34 rushing/108 passing),12 first downs and 2-for-18 on third down. SVSU tallied 82 yards of total offense in the final 12 minutes of the game.
