HOUGHTON - The Saginaw Valley State University football team hit the road for the first time in 2014 with a trip to Houghton, Michigan and a meeting with the Michigan Tech Huskies.
In a closely-contested game that featured a couple breakout performances for the Cardinals, Michigan Tech would eventually come out on top with a 26-20 victory after posting 19 second half points.
Saginaw Valley took a lead with 2:56 left in the opening quarter after Keith Moore hooked-up with Bryan Fobbs for a 26 yard touchdown, his first in a Cardinal uniform. A blocked PAT would have the score at 6-0.
The Cards extended the lead to 12-0 when Moore punched-in a one yard rush with 7:52 left in the first half. The extra point was no-good once more after the score.
Tech would cut the deficit to 12-7 when it scored on a 15 yard pass play with 3:35 left in the first half and that's where the score would stand heading into the break, with the Cardinals holding the five point lead.
The Huskies would score twice in the third quarter, using a one yard rush and 84 yard interception return for a touchdown to claim their first lead of the game and extend it out to 20-12.
SVSU would repond in a big way to the pick-six, however, as the Cards marched 66 yards downfield, using five plays and 1:38 of the clock. Moore found Fobbs for another TD pass, this one from 39 yards out to make the score 20-18. The duo would hook-up again on the next snap as well, with the team going for two and Fobbs hauling in a one-handed catch in the corner of the endzone to knot the score at 20-20.
The teams would trade possessions and the score remained tied until Tech took possession with 9:10 left to play. The Huskies used 5:41 worth of clock on 10 plays, going 66 yards for another touchdown run. That made the score 26-20 in Tech's advantage after another failed PAT.
SVSU got the ball back with 3:29 left and once more with the clock showing 1:22, but the offense couldn't capitalize on the possessions and Michigan Tech would kneel-out the clock when it got the ball back with 38 seconds left.
The Cardinals improved on their offensive output through the air against Tech, as the visitors posted 236 yards passing.
Fobbs hauled-in 120 of those yards on eight catches, scoring two touchdowns and adding a two-point conversion score. He was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after seeing his first significant playing time for the Cardinals.
Running back David Nay had a great all-around game as well. He posted a career-high 80 yards receiving and had a career-best 47 yards on the ground on 11 carries.
Moore was 16-of-32 through the air for two scores, adding a rushing TD.
Bryan Jones led the defensive charge once more for Saginaw Valley. The linebacker had 12 tackles and a sack for the Cards.
Fellow linebacker Dwight Trammer had a solid game as well, posting nine stops with a pair of sacks.
Safety Ben Jean added nine tackles while Travon Hamilton had eight.
SVSU falls to 0-3 on the season and 0-2 in the GLIAC following the defeat. Michigan Tech improves to 3-0 overall and 3-0 in league play for 2014. The Cardinals return home to Wickes Stadium on Saturday (9/27) for a match-up with the Ferris State University Bulldogs. It's the Hall of Fame Game at SVSU, as the Cardinal Athletic Hall of Fame will welcome Ricky Brown (track), John DiGiorgio (football), Cindy Reinhart (track) and the 2003 Football Team as the next class of Cardinal greatness.
