INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The 19th-ranked
Saginaw Valley State University football team was on the road again
this weekend, traveling to Indianapolis, Ind. for a match-up with
the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds. The Cardinals left town
with a 34-13 victory over Indy, pushing their record to 4-1 on the
season with a 3-1 mark in GLIAC play.
SVSU would score the first 10 points of the game, the first three
coming via a 27-yard field goal by Austin Borchard
(San Juan Capistrano, Calif./San Clemente HS) with 9:10 to go in
the opening quarter. The Cardinals’ next score came when Galen Stone
(Grand Blanc, Mich./Swartz Creek HS) caught a 20-yard touchdown
pass from wide receiver Justin
Groeneveld (Kingsford, Mich.).
Indy would strike first in the second quarter, as the
Greyhounds’ quarter back Rob Doyle hooked-up with Stephen
Geller on a 46-yard strike to make it a 10-6 contest after
Indy’s PAT attempt was blocked. Saginaw would answer right
back, as quarterback Chuck Dowdell (Ft.
Wayne, Ind./Indiana State) capped-off a six play, 42-yard drive
with a five-yard touchdown run. The Greyhounds would round-out the
scoring for the half with an 11 play, 68-yard drive that resulted
in a two-yard touchdown pass from Paul Corsaco to Cole Willis.
SVSU would be the first and only team to light the scoreboard in
the second half, as Indy’s only points came in the second
quarter. Borchard hit his second field goal of the night, this one
from 30 yards out at the 9:43 mark in the third quarter, pushing
the Saginaw lead to 20-13. The Cards would find the end zone again
only nine seconds later, as senior linebacker John Jacobs
(Prudenville, Mich./Midland Dow HS) intercepted a pass and returned
it 38 yards to pay dirt to increase the Cardinal lead to 27-13. The
last score of the game would come on a Nick Gallina
(Troy, Mich.) 26-yard touchdown run with 8:03 left on the game
clock. That score would make the scoreboard show 34-13, a lead that
the Cardinals would not relinquish.
Xavier
Walker (Bridgewater, N.J./Raritan HS) led the Cardinal rushing
attack, with 91 yards on 18 carries. Dowdell rushed the ball 12
times for 82 yards and a touchdown. Gallina’s touchdown was
on one of his four rushes in the game. Dowdell was 14-25 passing
for 102 yards. Stone was SVSU’s leading receiver, with three
grabs for 39 yards and a touchdown. Jacobs and Mike LeVand
(Grandville, Mich.) each had nine tackles to lead the Cardinal
defense, with LeVand also recording a sack. SVSU will host Northern
Michigan Saturday (10/3) in a noon match-up.