UNIVERSITY CENTER -- The SVSU Football team opened its season at Wickes Stadium for the first time since the 2014 season. The Cardinals came to play in Thursday night's opener, racking-up 550 yards of offense while holding Alderson Broaddus to just 153 in securing a 45-7 win over the Battlers.
Saginaw Valley took a 7-0 lead at the 9:50 mark of the opening quarter on a five yard run from Nate McCrary. That was answered by the Battlers' only score of the game, a long 50 yard pass connection to knot the score at 7-7.
The Cards got a pair of 10 yard touchdown pass hook-ups from Ryan Conklin to Chad Gailliard in the second quarter, with one coming after a forced fumble by David Still and recovery by Patrik Moriarty. That gave the home squad a 21-7 edge heading into the half.
McCrary got into the action once again in the third quarter, taking a swing pass 10 yards to the endzone to push the lead to 28-7 with 12:11 showing on the clock. Michael King would be the next recipient of a Conklin scoring pass, pulling in a six yard over the shoulder pass in the corner of the endzone to make it 35-7 in SV's favor.
The fourth quarter's scoring began at the 11:29 mark, as freshman Connor Luksic drilled his first career field goal from 23 yards out to make it 38-7. The game's final score came with 4:18 showing on the clock, with Elijah Cunningham recording his first career touchdown pass as a Cardinal, connecting with Josh Schelke for a 19 yard scoring play and putting the game at its final count of 45-7.
Inside the Boxscore
- Conklin finished the contest 25-34 through the air for 303 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. He was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" for his efforts.
- Gailliard hauled-in nine catches for 155 yards and two scores.
- McCrary had 60 yards rushing with a touchdown and 28 yards receiving with a score.
- Schelke's touchdown catch was the second of his career. He added four tackles on special teams as well.
- Luksic was a perfect 6-6 on his extra point attempts in the win.
- De'Juan James had a team-best 71 yards on the ground on nine carries.
- Jermaih Johnson added 65 yards on a team-high 14 carries.
- Dominick Fiscelli had his first five career catches for 49 yards.
- Michael Alexander had a team-high eight tackles while David Still, Heath Williams and Dillon Webb all added six-apiece. Still had two sacks with a forced fumble.
- Moriarty added five stops with a sack and recovered fumble.
Postgame Interview - Jim Collins
Postgame Interview - Michael Alexander & Ryan Conklin
Up Next...
Saginaw Valley hits the road for a 1:00 pm game on Saturday, Sep. 8 at Walsh University. Pregame coverage for the game in North Canton, Ohio will begin at 12:30 pm at www.svsucardinals.com/stream.
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