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Local Sports

Monday, October 19, 2009

GLIAC Football: Grand Valley State rolls past Findlay
Little Caesars
By BRIAN LESTER

Staff Writer



ALLENDALE, Mich. -- Andrew Leddy held his shoulder pads and jersey in his hand and walked around the sideline with a limp.

E.J. Whitlow sat by himself on a bench and wore a blank stare. Several other University of Findlay football players could only shake their heads in disbelief as the reality of a 38-13 loss to Grand Valley State began to sink in on a chilly Saturday night at Lubbers Stadium.

This was not what the 18th-ranked Oilers expected when they entered this pivotal Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference clash against the No.8 Lakers in arguably their biggest game since moving to NCAA Division II.

They were hoping to take sole possession of first place and solidify their chances of making the Division II playoffs for the first time in school history.

Instead, they were dealt a ferocious blow by a GVSU team that still clearly has the talent and drive to win a fifth consecutive conference championship and perhaps its fifth national title of the decade.

GVSU led 24-7 at halftime and rolled up 480 yards of total offense as they dismantled the Oilers in front of a raucous homecoming crowd of 11,428.

UF (6-2, 5-2 GLIAC) managed only 218 yards of offense and lost for the 10th consecutive time to the Lakers (7-1, 6-1).

UF still has three games to play and can keep its postseason hopes alive with a strong finish. The Oilers came into the game ranked seventh in the Super Region 3 ratings -- the top six make the playoffs.

Senior cornerback Anthony Fields refused to hang his head after the disappointing loss.

"There is a lot of football left for us. One loss isn't going to bring us down," Fields said. "We hope we get another shot at them (in the postseason)."

That remains to be seen, but on this night, the Lakers had everything go their way. They punished the Oilers with the one-two punch of quarterback Brad Iciek and wide receiver Blake Smolen.

Iciek, who is a Harlon Hill Trophy candidate, was 17-of-22 passing for 214 yards. He was sacked just once and has now gone eight games without an interception.

Smolen caught a 20-yard pass from Iciek with 6:15 to play in the first quarter, and ran two yards into the end zone with 9:07 to play in the second as the Lakers rolled ahead 14-0. Smolen rushed for 33 yards as well as he broke tackles time and again to pick up big yards.

Iciek did damage with his feet as well, running for a pair of one-yard TDs in the third quarter as the Lakers took a commanding 38-7 lead.

"They have a lot of answers on offense," UF head coach Jon Wauford said. "We were really scrambling on defense because of the injuries we have. They have injuries, too, but they also have more depth."

In past games against the Lakers, the Oilers have always had a good defensive effort but have struggled to move the ball effectively.

The same was true on this night, even though UF came into the game having scored 26 TDs and was 23-of-28 on red zone opportunities.

Perhaps things would have been different had the Oilers avoided a crucial turnover early in the second quarter.

Down 14-0, Mike Chambers caught a pass at the UF 32 and fumbled it. The Lakers' Zach Breen recovered and ran it to the 15. Four plays later, P.T. Gates plunged one yard for a TD as the Lakers moved in front 21-0.

For a moment, there was hope for the Oilers, who struck back when Andrew Beam hit a wide open Chambers on a 59-yard catch-and-run play as UF cut the deficit to 21-7.

Chambers finished with eight catches for 107 yards and scored his seventh TD of the season. Beam was 17-of-23 passing for 187 yards. He was sacked twice and threw one interception.

Melvin Jackson's 4-yard TD run in the fourth accounted for UF's other points of the night.

"Once again, we were not able to move the ball against their defense," Wauford said. "If you don't move the ball against them and you don't limit their offensive possessions, you are going to get run out of the building. That is what happened tonight."

Joe Knopick led UF with 14 tackles. Bryon Rizzi made nine tackles and Fields eight 8.

"They have a lot of weapons and they used them today," Fields said. "It's a tough loss because we believed we could win it. We just have to put it behind us and get ready for (Northern Michigan)."



Findlay 0 7 0 6 -- 13

Grand Valley State 7 17 14 0 -- 38

First Quarter

GVSU -- Smolen 20 pass from Iciek (Trumble kick)

Second Quarter

GVSU -- Smolen 2 run (Trumble kick)

GVSU -- Gates 1 run (Trumble kick)

UF -- Chambers 59 pass from Beam (Stevens kick)

GVSU -- FG 44 Trumble

Third Quarter

GVSU -- Iciek 1 run (Trumble kick)

GVSU -- Iciek 1 run (Trumble kick)

Fourth Quarter

UF -- Jackson 4 run (kick failed)

UF GVSU

First Downs 13 23

Rushes-yards 21-63 49-266

Passing Yards 187 214

Comp-Att-Int 17-23-1 17-24-0

Punts-Avg. 5-42.8 3-28.3

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties-Yards 2-21 10-50

individual statistics

rushing -- Findlay, Williams 6-27, Jackson 7-21, Beam, 6-15, Zielaskiewicz 1-1, Team 1-(minus-1). Grand Valley State, Berezik, 17-104, Gates 10-64, Sherrod 9-39, Smolen 4-33, Clark 3-16, Iciek 5-11, Neasman 1-(minus-1).

passing -- Findlay, Beam 17-23-1, 187 yards. Grand Valley State, Iciek 17-22-0, 214; Neasman 0-2-0, 0.

receiving -- Findlay, Chambers 8-107, Mora 5-50, Zielaskiewicz 2-13, Kovach 1-16, Williams 1-1. Grand Valley State, Smolen 8-98, Berezik 3-51, Gates 3-28, Loman 2-21, Bass 1-16.


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2 Comments

Latest comments listed first.
Bill England wrote:
Oilers Football
“ What is 1 loss. Pick your heads up & show the rest of the country why you are proud to be Oilers. ”
Monday, October 19, 2009 1:55:09 PM
Jon wrote:
Grand Valley State rolls Findlay, 38-13
“ The Oilers FB team is not quite ready for prime time, but they are getting close.
Oilers know the measuring stick and they are learning how to measure up. It will take some time. Keep moving forward. ”
Sunday, October 18, 2009 9:46:55 AM

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