Averaging over 52 points per game, the Grand Valley State University Lakers football team trampled the Northern Michigan University Wildcats 73-14 on top of 600-plus yards of total offense in Marquette, Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 21.
Since losing their season opener to the now No. one ranked Colorado School of Mines 31-28, GVSU has won six straight games while topping 40 points on offense in all of those matchups, as they have become the top team scoring in the nation.
Lakers’ head coach Scott Wooster said he does not concern himself and his team with national rankings among scoring statistics.
“Dominating football games. That’s what we’ve been about this year. You know, we’ve got some stats that matter to us, and we’ve got what we call details of dominance,” Wooster said.
Even though NMU has not won a game this season, Wooster said his squad had to maintain focus and avoid falling flat after beating their top rival and the former No. one team in the country at Ferris State University. This is where his “one-for-one” mantra, to take each week one game at a time, comes into play.
“You see it every week in FBS football and the NFL. On paper, a team should win or should win by a large margin and it’s a lot closer than it should be and those upsets happen,” Wooster said. “It’s just a testament to the leadership of this football team, the maturity of this football team, and what we’re after collectively.”
A dominant ground attack with 352 yards on just 34 carries helped the Lakers cruise to their massive victory while averaging an impressive 10.4 yards per carry. Senior running back Tariq Reid led the team with 80 yards on 10 carries, adding a touchdown, while his redshirt freshman backfield-mate Derrick Woods took just six carries for 75 yards. The Lakers had rushes of 56, 56, 48 and 31 yards.
“Philosophically it’s just who we wanna be. It’s run the football, eliminate the run. We’ve got great chemistry going with some running backs, quarterbacks and the offensive line. Offensive line and tight ends have played exceptional these past two weeks and are really growing and coming together. Excited about that,“ Wooster said.
Lakers’ senior linebacker Abe Swanson said when the offense is playing well it motivates the defense and vice-versa. Specifically, he felt that the offensive line dominated.
“Honestly, a huge shout out to the big boys up front. They opened up a lot of holes,” Swanson said.
Seven different Lakers got in the endzone on offense, while two more scored on defense. One of them, sophomore linebacker Tommy Barnett, picked off Wildcats’ quarterback Aidan Hoard and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. It was the second straight week that the Lakers scored on defense as fellow sophomore linebacker Anthony Cardamone had his own pick-six against FSU. Swanson, who had an interception of his own, loved watching the young guys in his position group succeed.
“Seeing those guys get the playing time that they deserve and making big plays when their name is called is huge. It definitely makes me really proud as a senior leader just watching those guys grow week-to-week and them making big plays,” Swanson said.
The other defensive score was from Lakers’ junior defensive back Damonte McCurdy, who returned a Hoard fumble 75 yards for a touchdown.
The last time that they scored 70 or more points was in 2021 against Northwood University when they put up 70. GVSU is ranked No. two as they head into the final three games of their regular season.
NMU falls to a brutal 0-8 on the season, while the Lakers move to 6-1 with their homecoming game against Michigan Technological University on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m.
