The Basics

Score: Saginaw Valley 37, Lake Erie 34
Records: SVSU (1-6, 1-5 GLIAC) | Lake Erie (1-6, 1-5 GLIAC)
Location: Wickes Stadium - University Center, Mich. 

UNIVERSITY CENTER - The SVSU football team hosted the Lake Erie Storm on Saturday (Oct. 17) night in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) matchup at Wickes Stadium. Running out to a 27-13 halftime lead, aided by Malik Washington's first two career touchdowns, the Cardinals were able to fend-off 21 Lake Erie second half points, adding 10 of their own to seal a 37-34 victory.

The Cardinals got on the board at the 11:33 mark on a Washington 23-yard touchdown run, which capped-off an eight play, 43-yard drive. An Alex Kenrick extra point made the score 7-0 in SVSU's favor.

Lake Erie responded quickly, driving back down the field 58 yards and tying the game at 7-7 when Anthony Bilal punched it in from a yard out.

Washington struck again for the home team at the 4:34 marker of the first quarter. He found the endzone on a two-yard run to make the score 14-7 in the Cardinals' favor after a successful PAT.

At the 8:04 point in the second quarter, Brad Odeman Jr. hooked up with Max Corcoran for a 32-yard touchdown pass that pushed the SVSU lead to 20-7 after the point after attempt failed.

A six-yard Drew Herrell running score with 1:22 to play in the half finished a run of 20 unanswered points for the Cards, making the score 27-7 after the extra point.

The Storm would cut into the deficit heading into the halftime break, however, as they went 77 yards on eight plays, using 1:11 of the clock to make the score 27-14 after another one-yard Bilal touchdown run.

Lake Erie would get another score from Bilal with 11:27 showing on the clock in the third, this one from five yards out to cut the lead to 27-20 in SVSU's favor.

The Cardinals responded with a six play, 54-yard drive that was finished by a Kenrich 33-yard field goal. It was his second field goal of the season and second attempt, as he hit from 30 yards earlier in the season. The good kick made the score 30-20 and would prove to be critical.

As time nearly expired in the third quarter, Odeman found Bryan Fobbs with 0.07 left on the clock for a 24-yard strike to make it a 17-point game at 37-20 after the Kenrick PAT.

The Storm would not go away though, as quarter John Banyasz punched it in on the ground from three yards out at the 12:41 mark of the fourth quarter to make the score 37-27.

Bilal would strike later once more for Lake Erie, notching an 11-yard rushing touchdown with 5:40 to play to put the visitors within a field goal at 37-34.

After picking up a first down, SVSU would eventually punt on its next drive and Lake Erie got the ball back on its own 32 yardline with 2:13 left showing on the game clock. The Storm picked up a first down but wasn't able to get the ball past its own 46, turning the ball over on downs with 52 ticks left on the clock.

After Lake Erie burned its two remaining timeouts, the Cardinals were able to kneel out the clock and preserve the three point victory, 37-34.

Inside the Boxscore

• Washington's 107 yards marks a career-high for the sophomore and he notched hist first two career touchdowns in the victory.
• Herrell had a six yard touchdown run as well for SVSU.
• The Cardinals picked up their first two interceptions of the season, as Ramal Iverson and Travon Hamilton each picked-off Storm quarterback John Banyasz.
• Odeman threw for a career-high 318 yards with a pair of touchdowns in the contest.
• Fobbs had four catches for a team-high 89 yardsand a touchdown.
• Corcoran had a receiving touchdown as well on his only catch, a 32-yarder.
• David Nay returned six kickoffs for 119 total yards, averaging 19.8 yards per attempt.
• Kenrick's 33-yard field goal was a season and career long and he was good on all four PAT tries in the game. 
• Bryan Jones and Dwight Trammer once again led the defensive effort for SVSU. Jones had a game-high 12 stops while Trammer reached double-digits with 10 tackles. 
• Matt McKoy and Zack Hadorn each posted nine tackles for Saginaw Valley on the night.
• Kyle Campfield had a pair of sacks for SV while Jordan Sanders (1), Chris Travis (1), Ryan Gruszka (0.5) and Hadorn (0.5) all chipped-in on the sack game as well. 
• The teams combined for 30 penalties and 303 yards of penalty yardage. 

Meijer "Player of the Game"

Washington was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after rushing for 107 yards and scoring two touchdowns. 

Postgame Interview 

Up Next for the SVSU...

Saginaw Valley travels to Northwood University on Saturday (Oct. 24) for a 1:00 p.m. matchup in the 41-st annual Axe Bowl contest. The Timberwolves (3-4, 3-3 GLIAC) are coming off a 37-34 overtime loss at Findlay on Saturday.

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