Coming off a stretch in which it faced off with three of the GLIAC’s most wide-open spread offenses, the Grand Valley State University football team is returning to practice with an eye on a new opponent: the Woodbone.

A variation of the wishbone-offense, the Woodbone is Northwood University’s (2-7, 1-7 GLIAC) primary offensive set and will give the Lakers (6-3, 5-3 GLIAC) a unique challenge on the defensive side of the ball this weekend.

“It’s a huge challenge because you basically have to design a whole new defense,” said GVSU head coach Matt Mitchell, whose team defeated Northwood 35-21 last season. “You have different guys at different positions, and they have different things they need to look at and do, so it’s a big challenge for us.”

That challenge will come from Northwood’s quarterback Aaron Shavers and sophomore fullback Cameron Jackson. The duo has led an offense that moves the ball on the ground almost 77 percent of the time and will look to do so against a GVSU defense that has allowed big plays on the ground at various times throughout the season.

“It’s a big difference, and the position group most effected by it is the defensive ends – they have to almost learn new techniques,” Mitchell said. “There’s a lot of times where our linebackers are going to have to be tackling dives and taking care of business, and if they’re missing tackles it’s going to be a long day.”

Despite the unique challenge that the Woodbone offense brings, the GVSU defense has been playing it’s best football of the season recently.

The unit’s second-half shutout of Michigan Technological University last week, after a porous first half, showed the kind of adjustments it’s been able to make this season.

However, Heath Parling and the GVSU offense have also been clicking on all cylinders in recent weeks. The sophomore quarterback has thrown just one interception since his three-interception performance against Findlay in Week 4, and fellow sophomore Hersey Jackson has given the offense life on the ground.

Jackson’s play in particular has been a key to the Lakers on both sides of the ball. His ability to grind out yards in short-yardage situations has kept the offense alive on long drives while also giving the defense time to rest on the sidelines.

“The offense kind of works in a conjunction, so when everyone is playing well, it makes everyone’s job easier,” Parling said. “Hersey has definitely picked up the slack with Norman (Shuford) going down, and he’s been playing well – I think he’s going to keep it up.”

Keeping it up will be something the entire roster will try to continue. Despite the success they’ve seen in their current four-game winning streak, the defensive transition from preparing for spread offenses to preparing for an option offense will bring challenges.

“You can’t overlook anyone. Obviously, Indy and Findlay earlier, we may have overlooked those guys, and it came back to bite us,” said junior offensive lineman Tim Lelito. “We’re progressing now, and we have to continue progressing, so I think that’s the biggest key right now.”

The game will kickoff at noon on Saturday in Midland, Mich. Fans can listen to the action live on WMUS 107.9 or follow the action live on Twitter @LanthornSports.

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