HOUGHTON, Mich. — The Grand Valley State University football team had its playoff hopes shattered on Saturday after losing 35-14 at Michigan Technological University. Michigan Tech improves to 6-0 with the win; GVSU falls to 3-4.

“The playoffs are over,” said GVSU coach Matt Mitchell. “All that stuff is dead in the water. At this point it becomes about our senior class and maintaining the tradition of Grand Valley football, trying to finish things out in the way that we should based on the culture of our program.”

The program’s last four-loss season came in 2000, when Brian Kelly’s Lakers finished 7-4. All four of GVSU’s losses this year have been against ranked opponents.

On Saturday, the Lakers struggled from the get-go against their GLIAC North counterparts.

After GVSU sent the ball out of bounds on the opening kickoff, Michigan Tech grabbed the momentum and didn’t look back. Quarterback Tyler Scarlett led the Huskies down the field and capped the drive with a 6-yard touchdown throw to Andrew Clark.

Clark made it 14-0 later in the first quarter by hauling in a 38-yard bubble pass from wide receiver Brandon Cowie after GVSU turned the ball over on downs at Michigan Tech’s 17-yard line.

The disastrous start continued for the Lakers on their next drive, as quarterback Heath Parling’s pass was intercepted by Michigan Tech’s DeShawn Nelson. Senior running back Charlie Leffingwell ripped off a 54-yard touchdown run one play later, giving the Huskies a 21-0 lead with eight seconds to play in the first quarter.

“I’d have to put it on our defense,” Mitchell said. “We were back on our heels, we weren’t as aggressive as we have been. We weren’t running around with the same enthusiasm as we had in the previous game.”

Leffingwell scored again on Michigan Tech’s next drive, hauling in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Scarlett, who added a 9-yard rushing touchdown shortly thereafter to make it 35-0 at the 6:08 mark in the second quarter.

The Huskies finished with 443 total yards of offense in the game. Leffingwell rumbled for 202 yards on 23 carries, while Scarlett completed 15-of-22 throws for 174 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

GVSU outscored Michigan Tech 14-0 in the second half, but it proved to be too little too late. Both touchdowns came from Parling, who completed 19-of-35 attempts for 278 yards, two touchdowns and one pick.

The team hits the field next at noon on Saturday at the University of Findlay.

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