UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The SVSU football team closed out the 2008 home football season in fashion with a 40-23 win over GLIAC foe Michigan Tech. The Cardinals put up 434 yards of total offense on the day, including 224 yards on the ground.

The story of the day was senior running back Brandon Emeott (Caro, Mich.) who gained 203 yards rushing on 29 carries with four touchdowns for the Cardinals. Emeott scored on runs of two, ten, 37 and 16 yards on the afternoon.

The Cardinals scored their first touchdown on the day when Danny Stiefel (Emmett, Mich./Stevenson) found tight end Galen Stone (Swartz Creek, Mich.) on an eleven yard touchdown pass to take a 7-6 lead. Stiefel was 18-of 31 for 217 yards passing with a touchdown on the afternoon. The Cardinals would take the lead for good when Emeott found paydirt on a two yard run to give SVSU the 14-9 advantage going into halftime.

Saginaw Valley would waste little time scoring the second half as Emeott found the endzone just six seconds into the third quarter on a ten yard run to extend the lead to 21-9. Michigan Tech would respond, cutting into the deficit on a five yard run by quarterback Steve Short. Later in the third quarter Emeott would break loose on a 37 yard scamper to move the score to 28-16. The Cardinals would once again climb on the back of Emeott in the fourth quarter as he blasted through a huge hole opened by the offensive line and found the endzone on a 16 yard run. Senior place kicker Jeremy Burr (Saginaw, Mich./Swan Valley) would add field goals of 20 and 29 yards in the fourth quarter to help the Cardinals to a 40-23 advantage.

The Cardinal defense was led by John Jacobs (Prudenville, Mich./Midland Dow) who led all defenders with 16 tackles, he also forced two fumbles on the afternoon. Mike LeVand (Grandville, Mich.) had six tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery, while Kyle Rowley (Oxford, Mich./Michigan State Univ.) led the secondary with nine stops and also had an inception in the endzone in the first quarter.

Saginaw Valley State moves to 5-3 overall and 5-3 in the GLIAC, while Michigan Tech falls to 6-3 overall and 5-3 in the GLIAC. SVSU will travel to Findlay next weekend to battle the Oilers in a GLIAC match up.