HOUGHTON -- The Cardinal Football team made the trek north to face Michigan Tech on Saturday (Sep. 29) afternoon in league action and came away with a hard-fought 10-0 victory over the Huskies at Sherman Field.
The shutout is the first of the season and it moves the Cardinals to 5-0 for the first time since the 2005 season.
After an opening quarter that had three turnovers overall, SVSU got on the board first in the second quarter when Connor Luksic gave the visitors a 3-0 edge with a 25-yard field goal as 11:44 was left in the quarter.
Luksic had another chance to put some points on the board, but his 34-yard attempt missed wide right with seven seconds left on the clock, sending the game to the halftime break with Saginaw Valley in the lead, 3-0.
SVSU had 148 yards of total offense in the opening 30 minutes while the Huskies posted 128 yards. Michael Alexander led all defenders with eight first half tackles in the defensively-dominated contest.
It didn't take long for the Cards to extend the lead, as Ryan Conklin connected with Chad Gailliard on a 65-yard scoring strike at the 13:26 mark in the third quarter to make the score 10-0 after the Luksic PAT.
The defense held strong throughout, battling the Huskies while picking-off three passes, recovering a fumble on a muffed punt and coming up with five stops on fourth down conversion attempts while sealing the deal and the 10-point victory.
Inside the Boxscore
- Alexander led the way with a game-high 13 tackles for SV.
- Justin Whitted added eight with an interception.
- Joe Newman and Austin Egler each posted seven stops, with Newman adding his league-leading third interception of the season.
- Heath Williams had six stops with 1.5 sacks, upping his GLIAC best mark of sacks to 6.5 - 3.5 clear of any other defender.
- Donnell Alexander had five tackles with a pick as well and three pass break-ups.
- Gailliard had a game-high 107 yards receiving on five catches with the touchdown. He currently leads the GLIAC with six receiving touchdowns.
- Jermaih Johnson had a game-best 60 yards on the ground, rushing hte ball 16 times for SVSU.
- The SVSU Defense earned Meijer "Players of the Game" honors after the solid collective effort.
Up Next...
Saginaw Valley continues on the road this upcoming Saturday (Oct. 6), traveling to Ashland University for another league matchup. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Jack Miller Stadium.
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