ALLENDALE, Mich. — Saturday afternoon before a sellout crowd of 10,458 #2 Grand Valley State claimed a 31-7 victory over #20 West Florida in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. GVSU improves to 4-0 overall and will open GLIAC play next Saturday (Oct. 5) at Davenport (3-1).
The Laker defense forced a punt on West Florida's opening possession and the GVSU offense went to work. The Lakers recorded a 7-play, 85-yard drive that RB Khalil Eichelberger finished with a 7-yard TD run untouched. Eichelberger toted the ball five times for 52 yards and QB Avery Moore hit WR Kyle Nott with a 13-yard pass-and-catch on the drive.
The Laker defense dominated the entire game, limiting the Argonauts to eight drives that lasted five plays or more and seven drives of 12 yards or less.
Both teams combined for nine consecutive possessions that ended in a punt until West Florida returned a fumble 37 yards to tie the game at 7-7 with 2:19 left in the half.
The GVSU offense ended the half with an impressive 8-play, 74-yard drive that took just 1:27 off the clock. Moore completed passes of 15 yards to Kellen Reed and 30 yards to Kyle Nott, benefitted from two defensive pass interference penalties that moved the Lakers to the 2-yard line. Moore went the final two yards and PK Mathew Bacik added the second of four PATs for a 14-7 halftime lead.
The third quarter was all Grand Valley State as the Laker offense produced 163 yards, including 120 on the ground. The GVSU defense limited West Florida to 21 yards on 13 plays. Grand Valley State opened the second half with a 7-play, 80-yard scoring drive that took 3:35 off the clock. Moore rushed for 59 yards on the drive, including the final play of the drive that he took from seven yards out untouched.
West Florida was stopped on a fourth down attempt inside GVSU territory, and the Laker offense went back to work. Moore hit Nott with a 32-yard completion that Nott pulled down with his left arm and Bacik converted a career-long 53-yard field goal to give the Lakers a 24-7 lead.
Grand Valley State closed the third quarter with a 5-play, 88-yard scoring drive that took just 1:47 off the clock. Moore hit Reed with an 11-yard completion to convert a third down and Eichelberger rambled the final 50 yards for a touchdown to increase the Laker lead to 31-7. The Laker offense ended the game on the West Florida 4-yard line, taking a knee to end a 15-play, 69-yard drive.
The GVSU defense pitched a shutout and limited the Argonauts to 121 yards of total offense (102 passing/19 rushing). GVSU tallied eight QB sacks (-43), the third-best, single-game total in school history, and 15 tackles for loss (-55). West Florida QB Marcus Stokes completed just 10-of-27 passes and was picked off twice.
DE Niles King recorded six tackles, 2.5 TFL and 1.0 QB sacks, while LB Jimmy Downs added six stops, 3.5 TFL and 2.0 QB sacks. DT Jack Gilchrist tallied six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 QB sacks. Safety Ian Kennelly picked off his third pass of the season and tallied five tackles.
Eichelberger rushed for 129 yards and two TDs on 15 carries, while Moore completed 6-of-13 passes for 106 yards and rushed for 84 yards and two TDs on 15 carries. Ike Udengwu added 46 rushing yards on six carries.
Nott led the receiving unit with three catches for 75 yards, while Reed added two catches for 26 yards. Senior TE Drew Peterson caught one pass for 18 yards and Cody Tierney caught one pass for five yards.
Redshirt freshman punter Evan Sundermann averaged 40.2 yards on five punts and dropped four punts inside the 20 yard line, including two inside the 10.
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