Holland Reporter

Grand Valley State University’s football team, ranked tenth nationally, secured a 37-14 win over Davenport in the GLIAC opener on Saturday. The game was held before a Family Day crowd of 15,188 spectators. With this result, Grand Valley State maintains an undefeated record against Davenport at 8-0 and improves to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play. Davenport now stands at 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the GLIAC.

Davenport opened the scoring with a ten-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a Kayden Collins ten-yard touchdown run. Grand Valley State responded quickly with a three-play, 51-yard drive culminating in an Andrew Schuster pass to Sean Byrd for a touchdown. Mathew Bacik added the extra point to tie the score at seven.

The Lakers then took control with two consecutive nine-play drives. Kellen Reed scored on a 29-yard reverse after a nine-play, 72-yard drive, followed by quarterback Brady Drogosh running in from seventeen yards out after another extended series.

Davenport narrowed the gap just before halftime with a seventy-five yard touchdown pass on their next possession, making it 21-14 at the break.

In the second half, Reed started strong for GVSU with a sixty-nine yard kickoff return. Drogosh finished that four-play sequence with his second rushing touchdown of the day. The Lakers’ defense forced Davenport into a three-and-out on their opening series of the half and soon recorded a safety when a snap went over the punter’s head. Drogosh capped off GVSU’s scoring late in the fourth quarter with his third rushing touchdown.

GVSU’s running game gained momentum throughout the contest, finishing with 254 yards and four touchdowns on thirty-eight carries. Ten different receivers caught passes for Grand Valley State; Sean Byrd led them with three receptions for forty-eight yards and one score. Drogosh had eight carries for seventy-one yards along with his three touchdowns. Kenneth Jones contributed thirty-seven rushing yards on four attempts while Zak Olejniczak added thirty-six yards from five carries. Quarterback Andrew Schuster completed eleven of twenty-three passes for one hundred twenty-four yards and one touchdown.

Defensively, Grand Valley State limited Davenport to just over three hundred total offensive yards—only two hundred twenty-seven after their initial drive—and allowed only four completions out of nineteen passing attempts by Davenport quarterbacks (one being seventy-five yards). The Lakers also recorded six tackles for loss and three sacks during the game. Linebacker Anthony Cardamone led all defenders with ten tackles; Jimmy Downs had nine tackles including one-and-a-half for loss and one sack; Jibriel Conde added four tackles as well as contributions to tackles for loss and sacks.

The Lakers will travel next week to face Northern Michigan at 7 p.m.