UNIVERSITY CENTER -- The Cardinal football team hosted the No. 2 team in the country in the Ferris State Bulldogs on Saturday (Oct. 20) afternoon at Wickes Memorial Stadium. Despite a solid first half and halftime lead, the Bulldogs came back in the second half and pulled away for a 28-14 victory.
The win moves Ferris State to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the GLIAC while the Cardinals drop to 6-2 and 3-2 in league action.
A lightning delay began the action, striking just three minutes before kickoff and forcing the start time back to 1:50 p.m.
The Bulldogs got on the board first, striking for a 62-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead with just under two minutes off the game clock.
SVSU responded quickly, using a Nate McCrary 1-yard touchdown run that was set up by a long 76-yard pass play from Ryan Conklin to Michael King. A Connor Luksic PAT knotted the score at 7-7.
The Cardinals claimed a 14-7 lead with 5:23 showing on the clock on another McCrary 1-yard score. That touchdown was set up by another long pass play, this time from Conklin to Chad Gailliard for 34 yards that got the ball on the one.
The 14-7 lead carried over into halftime for the Cardinals.
Ferris opened the second half receiving the kickoff and tied the game up at 14-14 on its first drive.
The visitors then took a 21-14 lead with 4:15 left in the third when they took advantge of a muffed snap on a punt attempt, scoring on the next play from 15 yards out.
Their final score made it 28-14 with 14:27 on the clock in the fourth quarter, as Jayru Campbell scored his third rushing TD of the game to cap-off a long drive of eight plays and 80 yards.
That score stood as the game's final, with Ferris State coming out on top by the 14-point margin.
Inside the Boxscore
- Michael Alexander was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after his standout defensive performance. He registered a career-high 21 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble.
- The Bulldogs had 446 yards of total offense while the Cards posted 331 yards.
- McCrary led the ground attack with 63 yards on 19 carries with a pair of scores.
- Gailliard had 132 yards receiving on a game-high seven grabs.
- Dillon Dixon added 12 stops with a forced fumble.
- Austin Egler had 10 tackles with a tackle-for-loss.
- Jared Stephens posted nine tackles with a half tackle-for-loss while Sloan Klaski registered six stops with a sack.
Postgame Interview
Up Next...
Saginaw Valley rounds-out its 2018 home schedule with the Battle of the Valleys on Saturday (Oct. 27). Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at Wickes Stadium. The game will be streamed on ESPN3 as well against the No. 8 Lakers, who claimed a 19-14 win over Davenport on Saturday.
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