UNIVERSITY CENTER -- The Saginaw Valley State University football team came through late in the game on Saturday afternoon for the second weekend in a row, scoring 15 fourth quarter points and six OT, to claim a 35-29 comeback victory over Wayne State University at Wickes Stadium.
SVSU found itself in a hard place after a late fourth quarter fumble, but two blocked kicks and a pass completed to Chad Gailliard, earned the Cardinals the victory to remain undefeated and head to a 1-0 record in conference play.
After a tough start to the game saw Saginaw Valley down 7-0 at the 4:17 mark of the first quarter, the home team knotted the contest 7-7 on a 4-yard touchdown run by Nate McCrary with :07 seconds remaining on the clock. That score would end up carrying over for the Cardinals into the halftime break as well.
The Warriors continued to push the score in their favor and used an 11-play, 57 yard drive that took just under six minutes of the clock to take a 10-7 lead with a 29 yard WSU field goal.
Then, the Warriors would find the end zone once again after a Cardinal possession with a 7-yard pass to push the deficit to 17-7 heading into the half time break.
Wayne State's next scoring play was a safety after taking down the Cardinal ball runner in the end zone to give the Warriors a 19-7 advantage with 12:29 remaining on the clock in the third quarter.
The Cardinals responded in a huge way to that play, using 73 yards and six plays in just over two minutes of possession. The drive was ended with McCrary's 2-yard run, trimming the deficit to 22-14 after another good extra point from Connor Luksic.
SVSU would continue their scoring train in the fourth quarter, with Jeremiah Johnson's 1-yard run complete. The two point conversion pass by Gailliard was good as well for the Cardinals to tie up the contest once again, 22-22.
The SV team forced a quick four and out for the Warriors and would take over at the WSU's 49 mark to attempt to take the victory with 8:20 remaining in the contest.
The team did just that, putting together a solid 10 play, 51-yard drive, that was finished-off by another McCrary 2-yard run. Luksics third and final point after gave Saginaw Valley the 29-22 lead with 13:18 left on the regulation game clock.
Wayne State decided to capitalize the time remaining on the clock, producing a scoring play with 1:55 remaining to knot up the game 29-29.
A forced SVSU fumble on Wayne State's 26-yard line in the first play of SVSU's possession, gave Wayne State the ability to take the victory with one competed play or field goal.
Player of the game, David Still, was not ready to give up on an undefeated season for the Cardinals as he flew up in the air and knocked down the WSU kick from going in as the regulation clock struck zero, heading into the teams first overtime of the season.
In the overtime, Wayne State earned the ball to start, but in four plays, they were unable to find the end zone. Another field goal attempt by the Warriors was yet again stopped by Still and the Cardinals would earn their possession still being tied with their GLIAC opponent.
Two plays and 25 yards later, Ryan Conklin's pass to sophomore phenom, Gailliard, was completed in the right corner of the end zone, giving the Cardinals the 35-29 victory over the Warriors and their first GLIAC win of 2018.
Inside the Boxscore
- Still ended the contest with two blocked field goal attempts, three QBH's, two tackles for loss, leading the defense to a 35-29 victory over the Warriors. He was named the Meijer "Player of the Game."
- Conklin finished the matchup 10-17 through the air for 145 yards and the overtime game-winning touchdown to Gailliard. He added 34 yards rushing.
- Dominick Fiscelli added the team high of three catches for 61 yards.
- Will Farr match the team high for catches for 44 yards.
- Gailliard had two catches for 32 yards and the score.
- Johnson recorded the team-high of 87 yards rushing with one touchdown.
- McCrary added 29 yards rushing with three touchdowns.
- Dillon Dixon, Joe Newman and Michael Alexander, each had one interception.
- Alexander (11) and Dixon (10) had their season high of tackles, as well.
- Heath Williams added seven tackles with 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss.
- Sloan Klaski and Patrik Moriarty had four tackles each, both for a loss.
Jim Collins Post Game Interview
Players Post Game Interivew
Up Next...
The Cardinals will head up north to take on the Michigan Tech Huskies Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The Huskies are coming off a road game against #5 Grand Valley State Saturday night. The next home game for the SVSU football team will be homecoming against Northern Michigan on Oct. 13th.
@svsu_football | #svsufb | @svsuathletics | #GoSVSU
--- www.svsucardinals.com ---
