Grand Valley State University’s football team welcomed the Wayne State Warriors during this year’s homecoming game. The Lakers secured the win with a decisive lead throughout the whole bounce back game, and ended the night with a final score of 51-28.
Before the kickoff, 20 GVSU seniors were honored, including starting quarterback Avery Moore, who was still out due to concussion protocol. This meant that sophomore Vinnie Meschi started, which garnered praise from head coach Scott Wooster.
“(I’m) extremely proud of him (Meschi),” said Wooster. “I thought he did a fantastic job getting the ball out quick, and moving around in the pocket.”
GVSU’s first drive was steady, gaining solid plays with their ground game. Then, on the fourth down, the Lakers elected to go for it. Meschi dropped back and completed a 14-yard pass to senior Darrell Johnson. This play led to a field goal that gave GVSU a three-point lead.
Wayne State had a promising drive to the Lakers’ 42-yard line, but they were eventually forced to punt. Just a few plays later, senior Kyle Nott showed his speed. Nott caught a 20-yard pass and took it 56 yards after the catch for a 76-yard touchdown. This was certainly a special moment on Senior Day for the wide receiver.
At this point in the game, the Lakers were on a roll. After the defense forced the Warriors’ offense back off the field, Meschi dropped a 37-yard pass to sophomore Kellen Reed. Two plays later, junior Syone Usma-Harper was able to get a touchdown, increasing the Lakers’ lead to 17-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, a bad start for Wayne State turned disastrous. After going three and out, their punt was blocked and returned by senior Damonte McCurdy for a touchdown. The Lakers were now sitting on a 24-point lead.
“It was my last home game,” said McCurdy. “(This game) was one of my bucket list checks.”
The Lakers tagged on another passing touchdown and two field goals. This put GVSU up 37-0 at the half.
Coming out of the half, GVSU decided to change quarterbacks, giving sophomore Alex Thole a chance. On his opening drive, he made a few solid plays, and ended by throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to senior Cody Tierney. GVSU kept their lead rolling, now 44-0.
However, Wayne State responded with a 61-yard touchdown– this was their biggest play and first points of the game, making the score 44-7. With around 10 minutes left to play in the third, the Warriors were finally able to chip away at the Lakers’ lead.
Despite the touchdown from Wayne State, the Lakers seemed confident. They went scoreless for the rest of the third quarter, while the Warriors were able to complete a second touchdown. The score going into the fourth quarter was 44-14.
The Lakers then put out freshman quarterback Andrew Schuster, giving some playing time to the future of the GVSU football program. Just from warm-ups alone, it is clear that Schuster has great potential moving forward.
Wayne State continued to whittle away GVSU’s big lead. The Warriors were able to secure a third touchdown at 12:34 in the fourth quarter.
However, GVSU finally scored a point after not having scored since their opening second half drive. Sophomore Derrick Woods Jr. was able to rush it in, making the score 51-21.
With little time left in the quarter, Wayne State was able to score another touchdown. However, this was not enough to compete with the Lakers’ decisive lead.
“It’s a great feeling when all three phases (defense, offense and special teams) are going,” said Wooster. “That’s who we are.”
The Lakers will end the season with two away games, the first of which will be Saturday, Nov. 9 at Northern Michigan University.
