The No. 3 ranked Grand Valley State University Lakers (2-0) hosted the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (0-2) Saturday, with the Lakers claiming victory in the high-scoring shootout, 48-36. Similar to last week against Lincoln University, this was the first all-time matchup between the Lakers and Yellow Jackets, and over 13,600 fans packed into Lubbers Stadium.
Black Hills State came out firing on all cylinders after receiving the opening kick, orchestrating a field-goal drive to open up scoring, 3-0. The Lakers’ first offensive drive resulted in a strip-sack by the Yellow Jackets, putting Black Hills State in prime field position to tack more points onto the board. The Yellow Jackets did just that by finding the fade-route pass in the corner of the end zone, leading to a 10-0 score with displays of early dominance on both sides of the ball.
GVSU fell into rhythm with a prime passing game on the next drive. After the ball moved just past midfield, the Lakers responded with a strike from redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Schuster, who aired it out over the top of the Yellow Jacket’s defense for a 37-yard touchdown to junior wide receiver Lynn Wyche-El, making it a 10-7 game.
After driving a stop on defense, GVSU got the ball back, with Schuster finding sophomore receiver Sean Byrd for a 55-yard score on the second play of the drive, giving the Lakers the lead, 14-10, with 8:20 left in the second quarter. Following another punt from Black Hills State, the Lakers picked up three more points after an offensive penalty wiped away a touchdown. A field goal from sophomore kicker Mathew Bacik gave the Lakers a 17-10 lead with just five minutes left to play. Before the half, GVSU recovered a fumble, but couldn’t capitalize with a scoring drive, as they gave the ball back to the Yellow Jackets, the teams anchoring down to slow the scoring.
The Yellow Jackets’ repeated, special-teams miscues gave the Lakers plenty of opportunities to continue building the lead, as they added another field goal from Bacik with 16 seconds before the half. Throughout the first half, neither team could establish the ground game, with the passing game doing all of the damage.
Head coach Scott Wooster acknowledged having the run game is crucial to the Lakers’ success, on both sides of the ball.
“We understand how important controlling the line of scrimmage (is) on both sides of the football, but particularly running the football to force the defense to stop inside out,” said Wooster. “To me, we have to be able to run it.”
The first half highlighted defensive stands with chunk plays for touchdowns that were matched with more touchdowns throughout the entirety of the last half.
GVSU started the second half with the ball, going three-and-out, forced to punt. Black Hills State then blocked the ensuing punt to set them up on the five-yard line. The Yellow Jackets cashed in on the special-teams play with another pass touchdown to get within three points, 20-17. The Lakers answered right back with the first rush play of the game for either side with a 27-yard score from sophomore running back Paschal Jolman, set up by a 45-yard connection from Schuster to Wyche-El.
The lapse from the Yellow Jackets’ special teams continued with GVSU blocking a punt of their own, with the house call coming from junior running back Derrick Woods, making an impact play on special teams and extending the Lakers’ lead to 34-17. The points began to rack up as Black Hills State found paydirt once again through the air, with another passing touchdown making the score 34-23, with the Yellow Jackets failing to convert the two-point conversion.
Despite the efforts of Black Hills State to get within a touchdown, the Lakers continued to put points on the board, with Schuster tallying 391 pass yards and four touchdowns as the engine of a high-flying GVSU offense. Schuster linked up with both junior wide receiver Donovan Johnson and junior receiver Kellen Reed for scores, those being 14 and 33 yards respectively.
Black Hills State’s special teams produced a 96-yard kickoff return to bring the score to 41-29 after yet another failed two-point conversion tried to bring the score within 10. The Lakers’ opponents poured in another touchdown pass late in the game, a 57-yarder that made the score 48-36, which is where the final points landed.
With the Lakers moving to 2-0, GVSU will play on the road for the first time this season, as they will travel to Pittsburg State University (0-2) in Kansas to take on the Gorillas Saturday, Sept. 13.
