DETROIT, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University football team defeated the No. 15 Wayne State University Warriors with a 28-20 victory in a key Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest for both schools today (Oct. 29).
Wayne State would take an early 7-0 on a 1-yard run by Josh Renel after Saginaw Valley was forced to punt on its opening possession.
The Cardinals would start to get their offense going in the second quarter as Meijer "Player of the Game" Jonathon Jennings (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville South HS) found the endzone on a 4-yard run to even the score at 7-7. Jennings set up his touchdown run one play earlier with a 65-yard pass to Nick Gallina (Troy, Mich.).
The Warriors would retake the 14-7 lead on a 6-yard run by Toney Davis, but the Cardinals would answer right back on a 26-yard pass from Jennings to the speedy Jeff Janis (Tawas City, Mich./Tawas Area HS) in the corner of the endzone to even the score at 14-14. Jennings finished the afternoon 25-of-33 passing for 338 yards and two touchdowns, including two more touchdowns on the ground.
Saginaw Valley took their first lead of the game, 21-14, with 43 seconds left in the half when Jennings and Janis hooked up for the second time in the quarter this time on a 39-yard strike. Janis would catch five passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon. The Warriors added a field goal as time expired to cut the Cardinal advantage to 21-17 at halftime.
After exchanging punts to start the second half, Wayne State would kick their second field goal of the game to pull within one at 21-20.
Saginaw Valley would extend their lead to 28-20 on a Jennings 1-yard touchdown run that capped an 11-play, 96-yard drive that took 6:23 off the clock in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinal defense closed out the contest as they forced the Warriors into a three-and-out before ending the came with a turnover on downs.
The defense was led by junior linebacker linebacker Grant Caserta (Holland, Mich./West Ottawa HS) who recorded nine tackles in the victory, including two tackles-for-loss. Senior Darius Middlebrooks (Indianapolis, Ind./Indiana State University) added eight tackles and a sack in the road victory for Saginaw Valley.
With the victory the Cardinals improve to 6-2 on the season and in the GLIAC, while the Warriors fall to 7-2 on the season and 6-2 in the conference. The Cardinals are now tied atop the GLIAC conference standings.
