Huskies defense holds Lakers to 20 points
HOUGHTON, Mich. – No. 5 Grand Valley State possessed the ball for 40:51, producing 477 yards in 88 plays to come away with a 20-0 victory over Michigan Tech on Senior Day Saturday at Kearly Stadium.
Michigan Tech’s (6-4, 3-3 GLIAC) defense came up big multiple times, holding Grand Valley State (9-1, 5-1 GLIAC) to just one completion on fourth down in five tries to go with three sacks on the Lakers quarterback, but couldn’t find the endzone, suffering its first shutout of the season in its third matchup against a top-25 team.
The Huskies held the Lakers to just 20 points, despite GVSU entering the game averaging over 31 points per outing.
“I thought our defense played incredible,” said Tech head coach Dan Mettlach. “We hold them to 20 points and make a couple of 4th down stops inside the five-yard line. Defensively we played well enough to win today, we just didn’t do enough offensively. I expect more from us offensively, regardless of who we’re playing and we just didn’t get it done today. I don’t think our guys backed down or looked like we didn’t belong, we just didn’t put it all together.”
The Lakers scored two touchdowns in the first half to jump out to a 14-0 advantage heading into the locker room after going three-and-out on their first three drives of the game. GVSU’s run game slowly but surely began to produce, with running back Khalil Eichelberger rushing for 16 yards and the one-yard score at the 1:58 mark of the first quarter.
Grand Valley State mixed in throwing plays with a 14-yard grab by Kyle Nott making it 14-0 with 25 seconds to play in the second quarter, capping a 92-yard drive that took 11 plays and 3:34 off the clock.
The Huskies’ defense battled all day against the Lakers and made a stop on fourth and three from Michigan Tech’s five to halt a potential score on a drive that ate up the first 7:17 of the third quarter with 17 plays trekking 70 yards.
Grand Valley State took a three-score lead with 2:07 to go in the quarter, using Avery Moore on the ground with a 19-yard run and an 11-yard rushing touchdown, making it 20-0 following a missed extra point by Mathew Bacik.
MTU had the ball for just 4:51 in the final quarter of action and only produced 31 yards in nine plays.
Sophomore running back Jake Rueff had 59 yards rushing on 15 carries, while Fries added five yards on seven attempts while going six-of-21 on completions.
Veteran Owen Watson recorded a team-leading 14 total tackles as Austin Schlicht recorded seven tackles with two sacks for 14 yards. Hunter Buechel produced six tackles with a six-yard sack and a quarterback hurry.
Punter Brenden Lach posted eight punts for 324 yards for an average of 40.5, with the long of the day traveling 57 yards.
Up Next
Michigan Tech concludes the regular season next week, traveling downstate to Saginaw Valley State on Saturday, slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
