Football

Cardinals "Light" Up Bulldogs, 30-27

Posted: Sep 10, 2011

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University football team opened its 2011 season and newly renovated Wickes Stadium with a 30-27 victory over Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) rival Ferris State tonight (Sept. 10) in front of a crowd of 8,173 fans for the annual Red Feather Classic football game.

The Bulldogs lit the scoreboard first on a one-yard run by quarterback Tom Schneider, taking a 7-0 lead with just five minutes left in the first quarter. The Cardinals responded as Meijer "Player of the Game" Jonathon Jennings (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville South HS) found senior running back Ronnie Lark (Flint, Mich. / Powers Catholic HS) from 18 yards out to even the score at seven. Jennings would finish the game 19-of-24 for 310 yards and three touchdowns through the air for the Cardinals.

SVSU would take their first lead of the game on a 24-yard field goal by freshman Scott Stanford (Novi, Mich.). The Bulldogs would retake the lead when Schneider hit Dwayne Williams with a 12-yard pass going up 14-10 over the Cardinals. Saginaw Valley would waste no time reclaiming their lead when Jennings hit sophomore Jeff Janis (Tawas City, Mich.) on a 56-yard pass just 33 seconds later going up 17-14 over Ferris State. Janis finished the night with 66 yards and one touchdown.

Saginaw Valley would extend its lead to 24-14 when Lark found pay dirt with his second touchdown of the night on a one-yard run with just 17 seconds left in the half. Lark would end the night with 18 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

The Bulldogs came out strong in the second half, cutting the Cardinal advantage to three after Schneider hit Jace Heneveld on a four-yard pass just four minutes into the third quarter. Ferris would claim its first lead of the second half when Skylar Stoker rushed in from one-yard out to put the Bulldogs up 27-24.

Saginaw Valley would get great field position after a 40-yard kick return by Tim Hogue (Inkster, Mich.) that would energize the Cardinals late in the fourth quarter. SVSU would reclaim the lead for good when Jennings connected with sophomore Mark Thrash (Wyoming, Mich. / Wyoming Park HS) on a diving 10-yard catch in the endzone for the 30-27 lead with 4:25 left in the game.

The Cardinal defense was led by Grant Caserta (Holland, Mich. / West Ottawa HS) who ended the night with 12 tackles, while Noah Sumpter (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly HS) and Jeff Heath (Lake Orion, Mich.) both added 10 tackles on the evening.

With the win the Cardinal improve to 1-0 overall on the season and 1-0 in the GLIAC, while Ferris State falls to 1-1 overall on the season and 0-1 in the GLIAC. SVSU will return to action next week Saturday (Sept. 17) when they travel to Painsville, Ohio to play Lake Erie College.