ALLENDALE, Mich. - Saginaw Valley traveled to Grand Valley State University on Saturday (Oct. 12) night in GLIAC action, taking on the Lakers in a night game at Lubbers Stadium. A late SVSU comeback effort would not be enough in the end, as a couple early mistakes cost the Cardinals and GVSU held on for a 35-28 win.
SVSU had a miscue with a fumbled punt early on and the Lakers were the first to score with 13:42 showing on the clock for a 7-0 lead over the Cardinals.
GVSU got on the board again to take a 14-0 lead at the 7:24 mark of the opening quarter when it picked-off a pass and returned it for a score.
GVSU tacked-on another score with 8:50 on the clock in the second quarter, pushing the Laker lead to 21-0.
The Cardinals would put a score on the board with 1:18 to go in the first half, set up by a David Still interception, which he returned 53-yards. Nate McCrary would run in from 16-yards out to cut the Laker lead, 21-7.
That's where the score stood as the teams entered the halftime break.
That score held true into the second half and the Cardinals would drive 75-yards and end the drive with a 38-yard run by Casey Williams for the touchdown. The point after by Connor Luksic was good to bring the Cardinals within one touchdown of GVSU, 21-14.
The next two drives would both end in interceptions with the Lakers capitalizing on their pick by adding a score to go up on the Cardinals, 28-14 as 4:44 remained in the third quarter.
Nate McCrary helped the Cardinals dig into the Laker lead with surge at the goal line for the score. A Luksic PAT made the score 28-21 with 2:06 left in the third.
The Lakers answered the following drive with a touchdown of their own to extend the cushion to 35-21 with 13:41 to go in the fourth.
Saginaw Valley drove 61-yards the next drive to cut the Laker lead to, 35-28, when Ryan Conklin found Chad Gaililard in the endzone for an eight yard score.
That score held true until the final seconds, as the Cardinals were looking to finish-off a 65 yard drive to tie the game up. With the ball on the one yard line, SVSU couldn't punch it in from there and time expired with GV holding on for the 35-28 victory.
Inside the Boxscore
- McCrary rushed for a team high of 71-yards and two touchdowns and also recorded 14-yards receiving
- Casey Williams rushed for 38-yards and had one rushing touchdown. He also led the receivers with 79-yards on six receptions.
- David Still had a game-high 15 tackles with 1.5 tackles-for-loss and two interceptions.
- Marvin White added a career-high 14 tackles as well for SVSU while Michael Woolridge added 10 stops.
- Conklin was 17-of-31 through the air for a touchdown and had two interceptions.
- Connor Luksic was 4/4 with extra-point makes and had six punts for 247 yards
- GVSU posted a 446-378 edge in total offense, with a 313-164 edge coming on the ground.
- The Lakers' Tariq Reid had 287 yards rushing with three touchdowns to lead that attack.
Postgame Interview - Ryan Brady
Up Next...
Saginaw Valley is on the road again this upcoming Saturday (Oct. 19) as they take on Lindenwood in a 2:00 p.m. game. Follow all the action live on svsucardinals.com.
