Junior receiver Jovonne Augustus’ leaping touchdown grab over Hillsdale’s Ben Karaba with 16 seconds to play Saturday night capped a spectacular game-winning drive that ended the 44-41 shootout in favor of the Lakers.

The win moved GVSU to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in the GLIAC.

“We had everybody on the same page,” said senior quarterback Kyle McMahon, who completed five of his nine pass attempts on the final drive. “That’s the reason why we were able to pull it off. Everyone stayed composed; everyone knew that we had enough time to go down even with no timeouts and we did that. We executed the way we needed to and we ended up putting it in the end zone.”

Augustus’ catch ended the game on a high note for the Lakers despite a myriad of defensive struggles that plagued the team throughout the contest. The Chargers’ offense racked up 451 yards of total offense, with Glendening accounting for 224 of those yards on the ground.

“Defensively, not good,” said GVSU head coach Matt Mitchell. “We didn’t stop the run. I think a lot of it has to do with two things: one, we were getting physically abused up front; and secondly, our safeties and linebackers weren’t fitting stuff up very well at all. We had enough hats down there in the box. We were getting whipped and we weren’t fitting things up.”

GVSU’s defensive line failed to put adequate pressure Hillsdale quarterback Troy Weatherhead, and the senior made the Lakers pay by completing 22-of-27 pass attempts for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Through two games this season, the GVSU defense has only managed two sacks.

“There’s no pressure,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t get any pressure whatsoever on Weatherhead.”

Still, the Lakers managed to come up with big plays when the team needed them. Redshirt freshman Luther Ware grabbed a blocked extra point attempt and returned it for two points to swing the momentum in GVSU’s favor before the final drive. Safety Erik Thompson, also a redshirt freshman, intercepted Weatherhead’s last-ditch hail mary to seal the GVSU comeback.

“When I was running, I got kind of tired, I ain’t going to lie,” Ware said of his extra point return. “I felt blessed. The holder fumbled the ball. I was right there. (Senior defensive lineman Steve) Gawronski got a good, wide-open hole for me.”

Offensively, GVSU showed its potency by matching Hillsdale’s output throughout the game. The Lakers totaled 476 yards of total offense and received big contributions from several skill positions.

Senior running back Justin Sherrod pin-balled his way to 148 rushing yards and two touchdowns on only 16 carries. Both touchdowns came in the third quarter and accounted for all of GVSU’s points in the period.

“Overall, I thought we ran the ball real well throughout the course of the game,” Mitchell said. “And obviously, that last drive, that was pretty big time by Kyle and all of our guys on offense.”

Junior receiver Greg Gay caught five balls for a 100 yards, while Augustus and junior tight end Tony Carreri each had four receptions.

McMahon continued to impress, completing 22-of-37 passing attempts for 240 yards and the touchdown to Augustus. The signal caller displayed his mobility several times as he evaded would-be tacklers and repeatably bought himself time in the pocket.

In the first half, McMahon scampered for three rushing touchdowns of 12, 10 and five yards. The three rushing scores were the most by a GVSU quarterback since Brad Iciek ran for four against Central Washington University in the 2007 NCAA playoffs.

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