Holland Reporter

Grand Valley State University's football team secured a 48-36 victory over Black Hills State on Saturday night at Lubbers Stadium. The non-conference game was played in front of 13,836 spectators. With this win, the Lakers improve their record to 2-0 for the season and will next face Pittsburg State on September 13.

Black Hills State took an early 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Grand Valley State responded when quarterback Andrew Schuster connected with wide receiver Lynn Wyche-El for a 37-yard touchdown pass, capping a five-play, 65-yard drive. Kicker Mathew Bacik added the extra point. Schuster completed all four of his passes on that drive for a total of 63 yards.

The Lakers' defense forced a three-and-out on Black Hills State's next possession. Schuster then found Wyche-El for a 12-yard gain before hitting wide receiver Sean Byrd with a 55-yard touchdown pass, giving Grand Valley State its first lead at 14-10. Another defensive stop led to two field goals by Bacik from distances of 39 and 46 yards, resulting in a halftime score of 20-10 in favor of the Lakers.

In the second half, Black Hills State blocked a Grand Valley State punt and scored on the following possession to close the gap to 20-17. The Lakers answered quickly with Schuster connecting with Wyche-El for a big gain before running back Paschal Jolman finished the drive with a 27-yard touchdown run.

Special teams contributed when wide receiver Griffin Shinrock blocked a punt that running back Derrick Woods returned for another touchdown, extending Grand Valley State’s lead to 34-17. Although Black Hills State managed to score again, Schuster responded by throwing touchdowns to Donovan Johnson and Kellen Reed during quick drives. The Yellowjackets kept pace by returning a kickoff for a touchdown but could not overcome the deficit.

The game ended after both teams had long drives that concluded on downs.

Grand Valley State’s offense produced seven scoring drives that each lasted less than two minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Quarterback Andrew Schuster completed passes to eleven different receivers, finishing with twenty-two completions out of thirty-two attempts for three hundred ninety-one yards and four touchdowns. Wyche-El recorded three catches for ninety-nine yards and one touchdown; Byrd caught two passes for sixty-eight yards and one touchdown; Reed had forty-nine yards and one touchdown on four receptions; Johnson had two catches totaling forty-five yards and one touchdown.

Defensively, thirteen different players contributed to eleven tackles-for-loss totaling fifty-three negative yards along with four quarterback sacks. Safety Josh Anderson led with eight tackles while linebacker Anthony Cardamone also had eight tackles including two tackles-for-loss and one sack.