BAY CITY, Mich.—The Saginaw Valley State University football team landed 15 Cardinals on the 2022 All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) teams, led by first-team defensive standouts seniors Trevor Nowaske, Nick Whiteside and sophomore Victor Nelson.
The selection of the GLIAC all-conference football first, second and honorable mention teams followed a vote by the league's seven head coaches.
Nowaske racked up a SVSU-leading and career-high 98 total tackles, including 48 solo for a personal best, from his linebacker spot for third in the GLIAC. The Canton product had 9-1/2 tackles for loss of 21 yards, tied for the conference lead with four interceptions and ranked tied for fifth with seven pass break-ups.
Nowaske's front-seven teammate Nelson, a lineman out of Detroit, had 16 tackles among 37 total. He led the squad with 5-1/2 sacks for 37 yards among 7-1/2 tackles for loss for 41 yards.
Whiteside (Auburn Hills) patrolled the SVSU secondary to the tune of 15 tackles and 30 total. He defended seven passes including five PBU and two interceptions.
Saginaw Valley's presence on the 2022 All-GLIAC Second Team Offense included senior running back Isaiah Malcome (Atlanta, Ga), wide receivers senior Casey Williams (Lansing) and junior Derrick Hinton Jr. (Auburn) and junior lineman Marcellus Anderson (Culver, Ind.).
Malcome averaged 63.4 rushing yards per game for sixth in the conference and scored seven touchdowns including six via the ground.
Hinton was fourth in the conference with 57.5 receiving yards per game on 39 receptions and six TDs (seven total). Williams added a SVSU-high 42 receptions for 456 yards and a score.
Anderson helped the SVSU ground attack rank second in GLIAC rushing (2,289 yards), third in total offense (4,111 yards) and third in scoring offense (33.8 points per game).
The second-team all-conference defense for the Cardinals included junior lineman Jacob Dorn (St. Johns), sophomore linebacker Micah Cretsinger (Jackson) and sophomore defensive back Michael Woolridge (Walled Lake).
Dorn posted 31 tackles in just nine games, of which 6-1/2 were for loss of 29 yards including 3-1/2 sacks and 25 yards. Cretsinger and Woolridge recorded 64 (32 solo) and 63 (36 solo) total stops, respectively. The former also forced two fumbles and recovered another, while the latter had three interceptions, 3 PBUs and blocked a kick.
In addition, five SVSU student-athletes were named honorable mention including senior quarterback Andrew Brito (Rutherford, N.J.), sophomore offensive lineman Connor Cracchiolo (Richmond), senior cornerback Cameron Mitchell (Utica), sophomore defensive lineman Leonard Henry IV (Flint) and senior defensive lineman Nathan Talakai (Redwood City, Calif.).
The Cardinals finished 8-3 overall and 3-3 in the GLIAC—all three losses coming at the hands of three nationally-ranked teams by just 25 points combined. The squad also defeated a pair of Top-25 foes.