UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University football team suffered a tough 17-9 defeat to No. 2 Grand Valley State on homecoming inside Harvey Randal Wickes Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (5-2, 2-1 GLIAC) defense was phenomenal all day holding the Lakers (7-0, 3-0 GLIAC) to a season-low 50 yards rushing as a team.
"I am really proud of our guys and the way we fought today," said head coach Ryan Brady. "That is the number two team in the nation and that says a lot about where we are. We are getting there."
Senior defensive lineman Carson Berenyi put SVSU on the board with a sack of GVSU Avery Moore for a seven-yard loss in the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 lead with 12:32 left in the first quarter. Grand Valley kicked a field goal at the 4:51 mark of the opening quarter to take a 3-2 lead into the second quarter.
Mason McKenzie scrambled for an 18-yard touchdown run that capped a six-play, 65-yard drive to start the second quarter to give the Cardinals a 9-3 lead (an advantage they would take into the half.
The Lakers scored late in the third with a one-yard rush by Derrick Woods to hold a slim 10-9 edge. The lead was extended to 17-9 in the opening two minutes of the final quarter on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Moore to Gavin Cossou.
The Cardinals offense had a few more chances to tie the game. The first came on the ensuing drive after the second GVSU touchdown. McKenzie hit Terrence Brown Jr. for a 41-yard pass that moved the ball to the Laker 40-yard line. The drive would stall at the 32 when Brady Devereaux was stopped short on a 4th-and-2 run that turned the ball over on downs.
The last chance for Saginaw Valley State was on the team's final drive. The Cardinals snapped the ball 10 times with the final play coming on a 4th-and-9 at the GVSU 21 where McKenzie's pass to Arron Foulkes was incomplete and the Lakers were able to kill the clock and escape with the win.
McKenzie led SVSU in running and passing with 12 carries for 54 yards and 9-for-25 passing for 145 yards and a touchdown. Brown Jr. had 12 carries for 52 yards and had one catch for 41 yards.
Meijer Player of the Game Brandon Rawls had his first double-digit tackle game of the season with a team-high 11 tackles. Rawls added a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Alfred Dailey Jr., Micah Cretsinger, and Eli Gordon had eight stops each. Cretsinger compiled a sack and two tackles for loss. The Cardinals spent a lot of time in the opponent's backfield and had a season-high 10 tackles for loss as a team.
UP NEXT: The Saginaw Valley State football team will move on to face Wayne State next week (October 26) in Detroit, Michigan. The Cardinals and Warriors are scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. (ET), kick-off.
