Grand Valley Explodes For 37-7 Win Over Eagles
September 18, 2004

Complete Game Stats

Five minutes after the conclusion of Saturday night’s Ashland-Grand Valley State football game in Allendale, MI, the sky turned red, blue and various shades of green.

Part of that could be attributed to the postgame fireworks show put on by GVSU. Maybe some of the other pyrotechnics came courtesy of AU head coach Lee Owens, who was still steaming 20 minutes after watching the Eagles fall by a 37-7 count.

“I was as upset at halftime as I’ve ever been and I don’t feel any better right now,” said Owens. “Football’s an emotional game and you have to play with emotion. We’ve got to get tougher mentally. We couldn’t make a first down, we couldn’t stop them when it counted. It burns me up inside.”

Owens isn’t the first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference coach to walk out of Lubbers Stadium in the pangs of frustration. GVSU has won two consecutive NCAA Division II national championships, has been to the title game three consecutive seasons and is off to a 4-0 start this year. Saturday’s loss leaves Ashland at 2-2 overall, 1-2 in the GLIAC. The Eagles play their next two games at home, starting next week with 3-0 Michigan Tech.

That game’s not in Owens’ sight right now. It will take him some time to get over the GVSU game. Ashland was outgained, 410-183 and had nine first downs compared to 21 for GVSU. AU didn’t reach 100 yards in total offense until the fourth quarter. Ashland had 40 yards rushing while the Lakers became the first team this season to break 100 yards on the ground (152) against the Eagles.

In the game’s opening minutes, the Eagles proved to be a worthy adversary. The game was scoreless after 15 minutes and at that point, the Eagles bottled up the GVSU ground game. The home team didn’t get into the end zone until there was 6:15 left in the first half when sophomore quarterback Cullen Finnerty found wide receiver Demonte Collins for an 18-yard TD pass. Collins was locked in a duel with AU defensive back Tanis Maynor in the corner of the end zone. The 6-2, 205-pound Collins won that physical battle, capping a nine-play, 85-yard march with the catch.

The score grew to 14-0 when Finnerty hooked up with flanker Brandon Langston on a 19-yard scoring pass with 2:58 remaining in the half. Scott Greene kicked the first of his three field goals, a 37-yarder, with six seconds left in the half to provide GVSU with a 17-0 halftime advantage.

“The defense made some plays early on,” sighed Owens. “But we got outplayed and didn’t respond to it.”

The game got out of hand in the third quarter. Greene’s second field goal, from 33 yards, gave the Lakers a 20-0 lead with 9:43 to go in the quarter. Moments later, AU quarterback Nick Strance was intercepted by cornerback Marvis Bryant at the AU36. Bryant brought that pick back for a touchdown that put GVSU in front, 27-0 with 8:09 to play in the frame.

Through the first three games of this season Strance had a solid running game to rely on and didn’t find himself in second-and-long or third-and-long situations the entire game. AU entered the game averaging 219.3 ypg., on the ground. The Lakers took that away, they held tailback Antwant Hart, who entered the game as the GLIAC’s leading rusher, to 25 yards on 13 carries (1.9 ypc.). Strance finished 15 of 26 passing for 91 yards with one interception. His numbers weren’t helped by the fact that AU’s average starting field position was its own 23-yardline.

The Eagles’ lone score came when the fireworks crew was just about ready to get going. With three seconds to play, freshman quarterback Kyle Johann hit senior wide receiver Michael Hull with a 24-yard TD pass. The scoring pass was the first of Johann’s career. Hull had three catches on the night and has caught at least one pass in 29 straight games.

Junior linebacker Devin Conwell had another strong outing for AU. He had 13 tackles (four solo). Sophomore linebacker Allen Lattimore had 12 stops (four solo) and a sack and senior linebacker Chris Campbell was in on 10 tackles (four solo). Campbell also had a sack.

Finnerty finished 19 of 34 passing for 225 yards and two touchdowns. AU sacked him four times. Collins had seven catches for 107 yards and running back Ryan Hukill caught seven passes for 45 yards. Hukill also rushed for a team-high 66 yards on 15 carries. Ashland hasn’t allowed a running back to rush for 100 yards since Donnie McCoy of Indianapolis ground out 106 yards on 31 carries in the next-to-last game of last season.