The No. 8 Grand Valley State University football team (4-1) took a trip north to face Northern Michigan University (0-5), with the Lakers picking up a conference win 35-7, bringing their conference record to 2-0.
Both defenses showed out early during the Saturday game, forcing NMU and GVSU to punt on three-and-outs on their first possessions of the game. The Lakers’ defense forced a fumble on the ensuing Northern Michigan drive, with sophomore linebacker Torian Wyatt recovering the loose ball that set up the GVSU offense at midfield.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Schuster connected with junior running back Derrick Woods on back-to-back passes of 21 and 15 yards, setting up the Lakers deep in Wildcat territory. Despite the Lakers moving the ball on the drive, Schuster was picked off on a third down inside the Wildcat 10-yard line, halting GVSU scoring opportunities.
After the teams traded punts to begin the second quarter, the Lakers found their spark with some bold decision making from the coaching staff. Junior wide receiver Kellen Reed hauled in a pass from Schuster on third and short, breaking it for 38 yards to move the chains. Set up at the Northern Michigan 20-yard line, GVSU rolled the dice and went for it on fourth-and-five. The gamble paid off immensely, with Schuster finding Reed for a 20-yard touchdown to open the scoring and make it 7-0 in favor of the Lakers with 5:43 left in the first half.
After a couple of defensive stops from both teams, the Wildcats locked in a quality field position after a GVSU punt, beginning their two-minute drill drive around midfield. The Wildcats showed life on offense for the first time in the game, with a 44-yard pass bringing them inside the Laker 10-yard line with just over a minute to play. After a NMU holding penalty that made it third-and-18, Northern Michigan’s quarterback scrambled for 17 yards, and the Wildcats punched it in a play later on fourth down to tie the game at 7-7. GVSU ran out the clock and brought the game to a tie at halftime.
GVSU could not get a rhythm going on offense in the first 30 minutes of action, with one key point being their troubles in moving the ball on first and second down effectively. The Lakers struggled on early downs in the first half, forcing the offense to convert on many third and fourth downs to move the ball.
Coming out of halftime, the Lakers received the ball first and began to hit splash plays that had them moving against Northern Michigan’s defense. GVSU used a trio of quarterbacks in the second half, with sophomore quarterback Brady Drogosh starting the half at the helm. After a pass over the middle of the field to junior wide receiver Lynn Wyche-El from Drogosh, redshirt freshman Zak Olejniczak came into the game to throw his first passing touchdown as a Laker, finding Wyche-El again for a 24-yard score to put the Lakers up 14-7.
“We had a post over the middle and the safetys rolled down,” said Olejniczak on his touchdown. “Leaving one of our best receivers one-on-one with a linebacker, I trust him to make that play every time.”
On the ensuing NMU drive, junior defensive back Jason Hardy picked off the Wildcat quarterback. Olejniczak led the Lakers down the field, including yet another fourth-down conversion on a carry from Wyche-El that led to sophomore running back Paschal Jolman punching in the Lakers’ third touchdown from 14 yards out, bringing the score to 21-7 in favor of the Lakers.
After this turnover and score from the Lakers, the Wildcats had no answer for the GVSU attack on either side of the ball. Getting the ball back from another forced punt, Schuster connected with sophomore receiver Kenyon Owens for a 24-yard gain to put the offense deep into Wildcat territory. On third down and six from the NMU seven-yard line, Schuster found Woods again for the touchdown, making the score 28-7.
On the first play from Northern Michigan’s offense, the Wildcats coughed up the ball, with junior defensive lineman Tyus Jackson recovering the fumble that led to the end of the third quarter.
Set up with a short field yet again, GVSU tacked on another touchdown with a four-yard score from sophomore running back Kenneth Jones, bring the total up to 35-7. The Lakers led with 14:54 left in the fourth quarter, and from that point on, GVSU was on cruise control, as 35-7 is where the score ended.
GVSU closed out the game with another play on the ball, with freshman defensive back Chris Little coming down with this first career interception on the final play for the fourth Laker defense takeaway.
Despite three different quarterbacks seeing action, the Lakers once again totaled over 300 yards of total offense. Olejniczak said Schuster, Drogosh and himself have their own pros when it comes to rotating.
“Schuster can dissect defense like no other, (Drogosh gets) yards on the ground whether the other team thinks they can stop it or not and I’ve learned from both of them, and try to accumulate both running and passing into my game to keep the defense guessing,” Olejniczak said. “I think we mesh really well together and make it hard for defenses to know what’s coming. On top of all of that, we are almost always together so we have good chemistry and show a lot of love to one another when plays are made.”
GVSU will head back home to play Saginaw Valley State University (3-3) at Lubbers Stadium for Kids Day this Saturday.
