UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University football team rolled to a 31-8 victory over rival Northwood to win its fifth consecutive Axe Bowl Title. The Cardinal defense was stout all evening as they held the Timberwolves to just six yards rushing and held them to 3-15 on third down while recording six sacks.
Mike O'Horo scored twice on the ground and was 7-9 passing in the game. His performance earned him the Meijer Player of the Game. Tyler Amos led the ground attack with 69 yards on 14 carries. Arron Foulkes and Sam Dersa caught four passes. Foulkes finished with 72 yards receiving while Dersa tallied 48.
Alfred Dailey Jr. led the defense for the second-straight week as he totaled 13 tackles on the evening. Micah Cretsinger finished with eight stops and a sack. Brandon Rawls, Brady Devereaux, Harold Irby III, Jemarrlowe Sykes, and Leonard Henry IV each contributed a sack in the winning effort.
Amos got the scoring started with 90 ticks left on the clock in the first quarter when he broke free for a 10-yard run that completed a long, 10-play drive and put the Cardinals up 7-0. Ryan Heicher drilled a 42-yard field goal in the second to extend the lead to 10-0 where it would stay through half time. Northwood was forced to punt on every drive in the first half (eight straight punts to start the game).
O'Horo scored the next two times for SVSU. The first was a four-yard run that capped a five-play drive at 10:50 of the third stanza. The second, a three-yard run with 3:54 left in the third to give the Cardinals the 24-0 lead. The Timberwolves got on the board in the fourth quarter with a four-yard pass that ended a 10-play drive. Northwood was successful with a pass play to complete the two-point conversion and cut the lead to 24-8 with 9:44 on the clock.
Foulkes put the game away with a 16-yard run on a jet sweep with just under eight minutes to play in the game. Northwood had a 15-play drive that elapsed almost five minutes end after a fumble gave SVSU the ball back and allowed them to eat away the clock to keep the score at 31-8.
The Cardinals begin 2023 with a 2-0 start at home and will hit the road for their first road game next week when they travel to Kirksville, Missouri on Saturday, September 16 to face Truman inside Stokes Stadium. The game is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. kickoff.