UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University football team survived a 17-10 overtime thriller to earn its first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) win of the 2023 season. The Cardinals' (4-4, 1-2 GLIAC) defense came in clutch in the overtime period with three stops inside the five-yard line before the game-sealing interception by Elijah Gordon ended the game.
Meijer Player of the Game, Terrance Brown amassed 109 yards with 80 on the ground and 25 through the air. Brown averaged 4.7 yards per carry and put SVSU on the board with his 23-yard touchdown reception that tied the score at seven in the second quarter.
Ryan Heicher gave the Cardinals the lead with a 36-yard field goal with 13:34 left in the game. Wayne State tied the score with a 41-yard field goal by Griffin Milovanski with 8:40 remaining. The Warriors moved the ball down the field on their next drive but were stalled out on the SVSU 1-yard line. Milovanski pushed his field-goal attempt wide right, and the game would stay knotted at 10 apiece.
Saginaw Valley State couldn't get much going on the next drive and was forced to punt with just over one minute remaining in regulation. WSU knelt on the final play to push the game to overtime as the clock reached zeros.
The Cardinals got the ball first in the extra period and Brown took no time to move the ball 22-yards down to the Warrior three-yard line. Mike O'Horo punched it in from two yards out to take a 17-10 lead. O'Horo finished the game 10-17 with a passing and rushing touchdown.
Wayne State took a page from the SVSU playbook and used a 21-yard rush on the first play in overtime to put the ball inside the SVSU five. The ball moved onto the Cardinal two-yard line but Brandon Rawls and Micah Cretsinger made huge stops behind the line of scrimmage on the next two plays to move the Warriors back to the four-yard line. Gordon sealed things with his interception on 4th-and-goal to cap the victory for Saginaw Valley.
Cretsinger upped his career-high for tackles with 17 stops while adding a sack to his stat line on the afternoon. Gordon finished with 10 tackles and an interception. Rawls and Adom LeDuc added nine tackles. LeDuc registered a half-sack and recovered a fumble.
The Cardinals hit the road for a tough test against GLIAC foe Davenport next Saturday, October 28. The game in Caledonia, Michigan is set for a noon kickoff.
