No. 2 GVSU football guts out defensive win over Saginaw Valley State, Ferris State next

SAGINAW - The No. 2 Grand Valley State football team struggled to get points in the board in a ranked rivalry showdown, but a dominant performance from the defense gave the Lakers a 16-9 win over No. 23 Saginaw Valley State on Saturday.

The Lakers have won 19 consecutive GLIAC games and 16 regular-season game sin a row.

In the Battle of the Valleys, the Lakers have won 20 of the past 21 showdowns improving to 7-0 this season and 3-0 in the GLIAC.

Saginaw Valley State (5-2, 2-1 GLIAC) led 9-3 at the half after scoring on a safety and a touchdown.

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In the third, GVSU's Derrick Woods scored on a 1-yard run to put the Lakers up 10-9.

Gavin Cossou scored on a reverse pass from quarterback Avery Moore to close out the scoring.

And the defense held, allowing just the one scoring drive the entire game.

Defensively, junior linebacker Anthony Cardamone led the defense with 11 tackles, two tackles for loss (-9) and a sack (-7). Senior safety Ian Kennelly added eight tackles, linebacker Damonte McCurdy seven, Devin Pringle six and Kobe Hayward six. Cornerback Terez Reid recorded two tackles and two pass breakups.

On special teams, freshman punter Even Sunderman was huge, averaging 45.6 yards on seven punts, including two inside the 10-yard line.

Moore completed 13-of-22 passes for 184 yards and one touchdown, while rushing for 28 yards. Nott hauled in three receptions for 67 yards, while Reed caught three passes for 46 yards

GVSU hosts No. 5 Ferris State in an even bigger rivalry showdown next week at Lubbers Stadium.

Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as  Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSport s.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: No. 2 GVSU football guts out defensive win over Saginaw Valley State, Ferris State next