ALLENDALE, Mich. — No. 2 Grand Valley State tallied a 38-0 victory over No. 16 Davenport Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 10,259 at Lubbers Stadium. The win assured GVSU the 2023 GLIAC Championship outright and marked the 19th league championship in program history. GVSU, which entered the regular season finale seeded second in the most recent NCAA Super Region 3 rankings, will await its playoff opponent that will be announced Sunday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.
The Lakers once again started fast in all three phases of the game. The defense forced Davenport into a three-an-out and junior WR Darrell Johnson returned the punt 25 yards to the Davenport 40-yard line. It took the Lakers just four plays to go the 40 yards, the final 18 of which came on a Lynn Wyche-El tight rope sideline run for a touchdown. Senior PK Josh Gorball added the first of his five PATs and GVSU led 7-0. The GVSU defense dominated the first half, forcing the Panthers into five consecutive three-and-outs to start the game and allowing just two first downs.
Davenport was forced to punt deep from its own end zone early in the second quarter and the Laker offense took advantage of outstading field position. Senior QB Cade Peterson hit sophomore RB Syone Usma-Harper with a 9-yard completion, followed by a spactacular 29-yard touchdown run by Kyle Nott to give the Lakers a 14-0 lead. GVSU drove 79 yards in eight plays for a touchdown midway through the second quarter. Senior RB Tariq Reid rushed for 33 yards on four carries, Peterson rushed for 25 yards and hit WR Kellen Reed with a 19-yard completion before QB Avery Moore went the final two yards for a touchdown to up the advantage to 21-0.
The Laker defense forced a turnover and the offense needed just three plays to go 10 yards for a TD. Reid went the final two yards untouched for a touchdown an a 28-0 halftime lead for GVSU.
The GVSU defense forced another turnover early in the third quarter as junior safety Kobe Hayward forced a fumble that was recovered by Jack Gilchrist. Following an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Panthers, Reid went the final three yards for a touchdown to give the Lakers a 35-0 lead. Gorball added a 29-yard field goal for the final margin.
The GVSU defense forced four turnovers, allowed 187 yards of total offense and 10 first downs. In addition, 12 Davenport drives were four plays or less, including seven three-and-outs. The Lakers tallied eight tackles for loss (-25), three QB sacks (-12) forced three fumbles and picked off a pass. Sophomore LB Anthony Cardamone led the defense with five tackles, while DE Christian McCarroll tallied four tackles, 2.5 TFL (-15) and 1.0 QB sacks (-9). LB Damonte McCurdy chipped in four stops and 1.5 TFL (-3), followed by Jack Gilchrist's three tackles, 2.0 QB sacks (-3), 2.0 TFL (-3), a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
Reid led the offense with 120 yards rushing and two TDs on 15 carries. Peterson and Nott each contributed 29 yards rushing, with Nott rushing for a TD, while Usma-Harper added 28 rushing yards. Peterson completed 7-of-10 passes for 76 yards and Alex Thole was 3-for-4 for 23 yards. Usma-Harper led all receivers with four catches for 24 yards and Wyche-El chipped in two receptions for 41 yards.
GVSU shuts out Davenport 38-0 to claim second-straight GLIAC championship
The win assured GVSU the 2023 GLIAC Championship outright and marked the 19th league championship in program history.