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Printer-Friendly ModeLakers trounce Cardinals
Grand Valley stops late comeback attempt, knocks SVSU from playoff contention
November 6, 2006 —
GVSU beat SVSU easily for the second regular season in a row. This time, it was expected.
The Lakers scored early and often before the seventh largest crowd in GVSU history at Lubbers Stadium on Saturday night in beating the Cardinals for the third straight time and fourth time in five games, 49-35.
Unlike a year ago in Allendale, when the No. 1 Lakers beat undefeated SVSU 31-10, the Cardinals came into the game with a 5-3 record with an outside chance of making the Division II playoffs. It was the Lakers that clinched a playoff spot instead, capturing the GLIAC outright with the win and a Northwood loss earlier in the day.
Grand Valley put SVSU's playoff hopes to rest early, piling up a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and taking a 28-0 lead into halftime.
Against the Lakers' second stringers, the Cardinals made it a game with a 21-point fourth-quarter comeback attempt, one which tied several SVSU offensive records.
The Lakers opened the scoring on their first possession of the game, as senior quarterback Cullen Finnerty ran two yards for a score with 7:14 remaining in the first. The touchdown culminated a nine-play, 50-yard drive.
It looked as if the Cardinals would respond, as they drove to the Lakers 50-yard line. The Lakers sniffed out a shovel pass on third-and-long, though, forcing SVSU to punt.
Freshman punter Kurtis Fournier booted a line drive to Lakers senior Mark Catlin, who returned the punt 39 yards before Fournier made the touchdown-saving tackle at the Cardinals' 43-yard line.
Grand Valley capitalized immediately, using just four plays to put the Cardinals down by 14 with two minutes left in the quarter. Senior running back Astin Martin provided his longest rushing touchdown of the year, running 25 yards down the left sideline for the score.
The Cardinals had a chance to take some momentum from the Lakers after sophomore Todd Carter missed a 42-yard field goal midway through the second quarter, but senior quarterback Vinnie Miroth threw the first of his two first-half interceptions. Miroth saw senior Bob Awrey open across the middle, but threw the ball too low and it was picked off by redshirt freshman safety Jacob McGuckin, who took the interception 33 yards the other way for the score.
Two plays later, junior Kirk Carruth intercepted Miroth at the SVSU 29-yard line and took it back to the 19. Finnerty found a wide-open Terry Mitchell four plays later for an eight-yard score with four minutes left, putting the Cardinals down by four scores.
"I told them all week that we couldn't turn the ball over, but we just did not take care of it," coach Randy Awrey said. "They returned one and we gave them a short field another time."
Following the score, Awrey went to junior quarterback Chris Dougherty, coming off an injury that had sidelined him for three games. Miroth was 9-of-15 for 68 yards before coming out of the game.
Dougherty was just 2-of-5 in the Cardinals' final drive of the half, which stalled at midfield.
"We didn't want to take the risk of injuring (Dougherty last week against Indianapolis)," Awrey said. "We felt Vinnie deserved the opportunity to go out there, but he struggled."
The Lakers gained 174 of offense compared to the Cardinals' 100 in the first half. The difference came on the ground, where Grand Valley rushed 14 times for 109 yards while SVSU had just 11 yards on 17 carries.
Grand Valley put the game away when Finnerty found senior Eric Fowler for a seven-yard score with 5:51 left in the third. The score ended a seven-play, 80-yard drive that was keyed by a 50-yard catch-and-run by Fowler on third-and-six.
The Cardinals began to make their move after that, going 75 yards in five plays and scoring on a 24-yard pass from Dougherty to junior Ric Cottengim.
Showing urgency, Awrey called a modified onside kick that was recovered by junior Derek Volmering at the GVSU 46. The Cardinals would score seven plays later on a nine-yard Dougherty screen pass to sophomore Brandon Emeott.
The Lakers put an end to the Cardinals' hopes on the next drive, scoring on a seven-yard Finnerty pass to junior Antoine Trent. The nine-play, 70-yard drive was kept alive after SVSU was flagged for two personal fouls on the same third-and-nine play at the GVSU 48-yard line. Senior Damion DeRosia ripped Finnerty's helmet off as he tried for the sack, and after Finnerty escaped, redshirt freshman Mike LeVand threw the quarterback to the ground out of bounds.
After the Cardinals responded with another Doughtery-to-Cottengim touchdown, Belmonte attempted another onside kick. The result was different that time, as Trent caught it in stride and returned it 45 yards for the score.
Cottengim caught his third touchdown of the game on the next drive, a 22-yard pass from Dougherty, to bring the Cardinals back within 21.
The Lakers turned to backup quarterback Brad Iciek on the next drive, inserting all of their second stringers on the offensive side of the ball.
Finnerty finished the game 11-of-16 for 158 yards and three scores. The Lakers' top two runners, Martin and junior Preston Garris, finished with 130 yards on 20 carries.
The scoring concluded with Cottengim's school record-tying fourth receiving touchdown of the game with 2:55 left. The score was also Dougherty's fifth touchdown, which also tied a school record.
Dougherty finished 28-of-37 for a career-high 360 yards, while Cottengim caught a career-high 11 passes. Junior Joe Dougherty also had a career night, catching seven balls for 103 yards. As a team, SVSU completed a school-record 37 passes on 52 attempts.
Both teams set a series record with a combined 84 points, while the 49 Grand Valley points were the most scored by either team since a 55-7 Lakers win in 1982.
The win was Grand Valley's 23rd straight, the longest current streak in the NCAA.
SVSU, losers of four games in a season for the first time since 1998, hosts Hillsdale next week at noon for senior day.