Despite a new coach and several fresh faces on both sides of the ball, the Grand Valley State University football team proved Thursday they will still be a force to be reckoned with in Division II.

The Lakers’ 34-31 comeback win over No. 8 West Texas A&M University was not pretty at times, but it was a victory nonetheless – the 10th straight in season-opening games for the program.

“It feels good to get the first win, there’s no doubt about it. There’s been a lot of time and effort spent into it,” said GVSU head coach Matt Mitchell. “We’ll look back on the tape. There’s some things we can all improve on – both players and coaches.”

Second-ranked GVSU struggled both offensively and defensively throughout the contest but narrowly won thanks to some late heroics.

After stopping West Texas’ fourth-down attempt at the beginning of the fourth quarter, senior quarterback Kyle McMahon rolled right and found junior Jovonne Augustus between three West Texas defenders deep down the middle of the field. With the defenders colliding behind him, Augustus ended the 70-yard play in the endzone.

“I got flushed out a bit, but I still knew he could go up and get the ball,” said McMahon, who passed for 295 yards and two touchdowns in his first game since transferring from Eastern Michigan University. “So I just wanted to get it up there, get it out to him, and give him a chance to make a play on the ball. Obviously he did, and it worked out for us.”

The score sparked two more touchdowns from the GVSU offense, while the defense intercepted West Texas quarterback Taylor Harris twice in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

Harris tossed four interceptions in total. The turnovers kept the Lakers in the game despite offensive struggles that plagued the team during a stretch of 17 unanswered points by West Texas.

“Even though the offense was coming slow, we were like, ‘We got to do our part, we can’t worry about them right now. We got to do us,’” said redshirt freshman linebacker Luther Ware, who intercepted Harris twice. “It was just a defensive-type of thing, where you have to keep fighting until you make plays.”

GVSU settled for five field goal attempts – missing two from inside 40 yards – before the offense broke through in the fourth quarter.

“We were getting the trips into the redzone non-stop,” McMahon said. “It was just executing plays and we just know we have to finish, and we weren’t doing that. So we knew that we were the only ones stopping ourselves. We were confident, still.”

Augustus, junior Greg Gay and senior Ryan Bass had three catches a piece, while senior running back Justin Sherrod snatched seven balls for 77 yards out of the backfield. Gay’s diving, 20-yard reception with 9:23 to play handed GVSU its first lead since the end of the first half, one the team would not relinquish.

Sherrod rushed for 73 yards on 14 carries and University of Akron transfer Norman Shuford added 47 yards on 11 attempts in his first game in a Laker uniform.

West Texas knifed through the GVSU defense by using short passes spread across the entire field before the Lakers adjusted in the second half.

“They came in a did a lot different thing than we expected,” Mitchell said. “They used to be really wide splits. They tightened down their splits and we had to make a lot of adjustments because a lot of our pressures weren’t even getting close.”

Senior linebacker Justin Victor tallied 11 total tackles to lead the GVSU defense.

“First games you’re going to expect some mistakes and stuff. You got some young guys out there for the first time,” Victor said. “It’s good to get that first win under the belt, but we still got a lot of work to do.”

Mitchell agreed.

“It’s bittersweet,” he said. “I think that it’s good to get the win. I think it’s good for our kids, it’s good for our program. But, I don’t think to a man in that locker room, they felt like we could perform at the level that maybe we possibly can.”

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