Grand Valley State University’s football campaign began on Thursday, Sept. 5 with a home matchup against Central State University, and this was no ordinary season opener for GVSU. The final score was 58-0, the largest shutout GVSU has had since the late 80s.
GVSU had a successful plan to start the game, with the Lakers receiving the ball first and establishing their dominance right away by scoring on all of their first five drives. The Lakers had a four-minute, 10-play drive that ended in a touchdown on the ground by running back Khalil Eichelberg. CSU had their first drive quickly shut down by the Laker defense– this would become a trend throughout the game.
When GVSU received the ball back, they wasted no time. The team put together a six play drive that resulted in a Kenneth Jones rushing touchdown.
GVSU’s defense was dominating the Marauders attack, and in the first half of the game, CSU only had four first downs and 42 total yards of offense. With the Lakers leading 30-0 at halftime, it started raining in the second half. However, the weather didn’t seem to faze junior linebacker Anthony Cardamone.
“Let’s do it,” Cardamone said. “Rain, snow, 90 degrees, we’ll (the team) beat your ass.”
Nothing seemed to change for the Lakers among the second half showers, with the team’s morale staying high.
“Lakers get wet,” head coach Scott Wooster said.
The Lakers continued to exert their dominance, running the ball and adding on another 28 points to the scoreboard. GVSU rushed for 546 yards total. This total was just three yards away from tying an all-time program record.
Senior quarterback Avery Moore made sure to give credit to the team’s offensive line after the historic rushing performance.
“We had four guys (running backs) over 80 yards rushing,” said Moore. “Give them their due, the (offensive) line was absolutely nuts today.”
Wooster couldn’t have been happier with the team’s execution.
“It’s been nine months and two days since we walked off the field 6-7 (referencing the 6-7 playoff loss against Harding), I don’t know if there was a morning (that) went by that you don’t think about that,” Wooster said.
After breaking the season ticket record last year, the Lakers decided to bring back their vintage blue uniforms for the game.
On social media, students and fans couldn’t say enough about how good they thought the uniforms looked. After the GVSU football team unveiled that they were “back in blue” on an Instagram post, comments read, “Those baby blues are too clean” and “HEAT.”
Wooster acknowledged the strength of CSU, and looking ahead to the Laker’s next game against the Colorado State Pueblo Thunderwolves, noted that the upcoming opponents will be a force to play against.
“(We had a) good opponent this week,” said Wooster. “We’re going on the road to Colorado Springs (to) play in some elevation against a really good football team, a team that will probably be ranked here soon.”
The Lakers will travel to Colorado take on the Thunderwolves on Sept. 14 with an 8 p.m. EST kickoff time.
