The No. 3 Grand Valley State University football team took on Lincoln University Saturday, Aug. 30 in an opening matchup at Lubbers Stadium, where the Lakers dominated their way to a 45-9 victory.
Ranked third in the nation, this is the Lakers’ 54th season, and was their first time playing the Lincoln Lions. During GVSU’s last season, head coach Scott Wooster led the Lakers to an 11-2 record and a trip to the second round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II playoffs. Coming into this season with a revamped team, the Lakers look to build off past successes– starting on the first drive.
On the first drive, junior defensive back Josh Anderson intercepted a pass for the Lakers, shifting momentum early. With GVSU on offense, junior wide receiver Lynn Wyche-El opened up scoring with an 11-yard touchdown pass from redshirt-freshman quarterback Andrew Schuster, putting the Lakers up 7-0 with 10:18 to go in the first quarter.
The Lakers’ defense continued to show dominance, forcing the Lions to punt on their second drive. With the ball back in Schuster’s hand, he completed a 45-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Kellen Reed, giving the Lakers a 14-0 lead with 6:41 left in the first quarter.
“(We motioned a player) outside, had a vertical concept and got the matchup we like,” said Schuster. “Motion kind of screwed up their coverage, so I got Kellen going deep, and it worked out.”
Starting deep on their side, Lincoln recouped and drove the ball down the field, proceeding to score on a two-yard rushing touchdown. However, Lincoln missed the extra point, leaving the score at 14-6 with 03:05 to go in the first quarter.
With 10:22 left in the second quarter, the Lakers forced the Lions to punt on a fourth down and 20. The Lakers next went up 21-6 after an 18-yard rushing touchdown by senior running back Syone Usma-Harper with 07:40 to go in the second quarter.
On the next Laker drive, a deep pass by Schuster was picked off. Despite a bit of tension between players along the sideline, the Lions tacked on a 30-yard field goal with 3:09 left in the second quarter, cutting the Lakers’ lead to 21-9. The Lions trailed 21-9 going into halftime.
Coming out of halftime, with 11:40 to go, the Lakers extended their lead to 28-9 after sophomore running back Paschal Jolman had an 18-yard touchdown run. Following the Lakers’ scoring drive, the Lions tried adding a touchdown of their own with a huge, 40-yard run. However, a penalty was called for holding on the Lions, bringing the ball back to the 40-yard line. The Lions got the ball down to the one-yard line before a five-yard false start penalty pushed them back.
Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Ronald Jackson provided a sack for the Lakers, pushing the Lions back to the 11-yard line. The Lions tried to fake the following field goal for a possible touchdown, but the Lakers’ redshirt sophomore defensive back Matthew Nikens intercepted the pass in the end zone.
“We didn’t really know much about their offense,” said linebacker Jimmy Downs. “I think that quarterback back there was scrambling for his life.”
The next Laker drive coming out of the interception resulted in another touchdown from a 30-yard pass by Shuster to junior wide receiver Donovan Johnson, giving the Lakers a 35-9 lead with 34 seconds left in the third quarter. The Lakers fumbled on the next drive, giving the ball right back to the Lakers before the quarter’s end.
GVSU extended their lead to 42-9 after sophomore quarterback Brady Drogosh rushed for a four-yard touchdown with 08:14 left in the fourth quarter. After an interception on the following Lion drive, the Lakers tacked on a 42-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Mathew Bacik, extending their lead to 45-9 with 06:01 to go in the fourth quarter.
After another interception was thrown by Lincoln to redshirt freshman defensive back Trey Sharp, the Lakers punted on their next drive, giving the ball back to the Lions with 1:05 left in the game. The clock continued to run down as the Lakers secured their first win of 2025 with a final score of 45-9, improving to 1-0 on the season.
The Lakers will next face Black Hills State University for their annual 616 Night.
“Black Hills State is a really good football program out of the RMAC (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference),” said Wooster. “The key to success is not shooting ourselves in the foot (and) limiting those negative plays.”
The game will start at 7 p.m. in Lubbers Stadium Saturday, Sept. 6.
