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Printer-Friendly ModeUpset win on the road against Vulcans surprises everyone but the Cardinals
August 31, 2009 —
After being picked to finish fifth in the GLIAC in preseason polls, the Cardinals entered the 2009 football season with a bang, defeating No. 8 ranked California, Pa., 23-17.
With not many believers but themselves, the Cardinals came back on three different occasions against the Vulcans and completed the upset when sophomore defensive back Carlton Downs intercepted a pass near the end of the game. Even with the odds stacked against them, the Cards went into California believing that they would win.
“We were the only ones that thought it could happen. We proved everyone wrong,” senior offensive lineman Jordon DeRosia said. “We watched their film and we knew what we had to do to win.”
Junior transfer quarterback Charles Dowdell, playing in his first game for SVSU, finished 13-20 for 208 yards and a touchdown, to go along with 14 rushes for 67 yards. The attempts and yards gained by Dowdell were more than any Cardinal quarterback had in any single game last season. After the game, Dowdell talked about the offensive game plan.
“Going into the game, the plan really wasn’t for me to rush that many times. We were just reacting to what the defense was giving us. They were really quick upfront so we countered that by running a lot of screens and quick passes to the wideouts.” Dowdell said. With a big win so early in the season, senior offensive lineman Jerry Wichman believes the team will build off the excitement of such an emotional win.
“We definitely want to take it one game at a time, especially with the tough schedule we have, but there’s no doubt we can use this win to build some momentum as the season gets going,” Wichman said.
With California, Pa., being about an eight-hour drive, the bus ride home was filled with much excitement, at least until the adrenaline from the game wore off.
“The bus ride home was a blast after the big win but fatigue quickly set in and everyone was pretty tired.” Wichman said.
The exuberant feeling was one of which the Cardinals wouldn’t mind getting used to.
“The feeling was pretty much ecstatic. Everyone was drained from playing with everything they had and that’s what we need every game.” DeRosia said.
With rival and No. 1 ranked Grand Valley awaiting SVSU in two weeks, the Cardinals are looking forward to redeeming themselves after suffering a 36-0 defeat last season.
“Winning at Grand Valley my senior year would be an incredible accomplishment and would get us that much closer to achieving our goals that we set out to.” Wichman said.
While DeRosia took a second to think about what a win at Grand Valley would mean, he put it all into perspective. “Getting a win at Grand Valley would be the biggest win of my collegian career up until now, but the game after that, as well as the rest of the year would be even bigger if we could close out the season as GLIAC champs.”
The Cardinals travel to Wayne State on Saturday for a noon kickoff. The following week is the showdown with Grand Valley, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. The Cardinals first home game is September 19 against Northwood in the Axe Bowl.
Dowdell, in his first full season at SVSU, is taking it one game at a time, as opposed to looking ahead to Grand Valley.
“I think we have a good group of seniors who will make sure everyone stays focused on the goal at hand, and that is to be 1-0 at the end of each week, no matter who the opponent is.” Dowdell said.