GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Ferris State University football team won its ninth straight game on Saturday, holding off a tough Saginaw Valley State University team 27-24 at Top Taggart Field.
The Bulldogs, the No. 1 ranked NCAA Division II team in the nation, won by the narrowest margin of the year, and faced the prospect of tie game late in the fourth quarter, spared when a field goal attempt by Saginaw Valley’s Rodrigo Castaneda sailed wide right with just 4:49 left in the game.
Ferris State ran out the clock to end the game, boosting the season record to 9-1 and perfect 6-0 against Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents. The team has not lost since the opening week contest against Pittsburg State University in Kansas.
Head coach Tony Annese noted the No. 1 ranking has changed hands in the last three weeks with top teams falling.
“In the last three weeks, Harding was No. 1. They lost. Then Grand Valley was No. 1. They lost. Then Pittsburg State was No. 1, and they lost. Then here comes Ferris State,” he said. “Thank god we held on because it’s just been crazy.”
For Davenport, the highly-acclaimed senior class had one more show for the fans at the Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex scoring a season-high 52 points in the 52-31 win over Northern Michigan. The last three years has seen the program grow into one of the best in NCAA Division II with a record of 23-7 over their last 30 games. It was a redshirt freshman however at quarterback who led the offense in this one in his first career start. Mac VandenHout got some quality playing time in last week's game at Saginaw Valley State, but took the first snaps for the first time and showed his promise towards the future. VandenHout finished with 113 rushing yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns and also had 156 passing yards and two more touchdowns as the Panthers won their fifth straight game over the Wildcats.
The game saw a first as a program with two players rushing for over 100 yards in the same game. Myren Harris led the team with 115 rushing yards and had two scores on the ground. The Panthers rushed for 278 yards and five touchdowns as Javian Tomlinson scored his first career touchdown on his only carry of the game. On the defensive side, Cameren Grodhaus set a school record with 25 tackles including 10 solo stops. He broke the five-year old mark set by Kye Black on Oct. 5, 2019 versus Ferris State. The run-heavy attack for Northern Michigan featured 65 attempts for 324 yards. The Panthers would score touchdowns on seven of their 10 full possessions. They had two possessions with just one play as a kneel down at the end of the first and second half.
The defense was able to force two fumbles in the first three drives for Northern Michigan. On the opening drive, the Wildcats drove 49 yards in 12 plays, but Reed Snitker forced a Jake Bilitz two-yard loss and fumbled that was recovered by Kennedy Nelson at the DU 40-yard line. That set up DU's first score of a 28-yard Brandon Gielow field goal with 5:53 left in the first quarter. NMU scored a touchdown on their next drive, but fumbled on the first play of their third drive. Bilitz was stripped by Latrell Scott and Myles Harris recovered at the NMU 20-yard line. VandenHout carried for 20 yards on the next play for a 17-7 lead at the 13:28 mark of the second quarter. Tomlinson's seven-yard touchdown stretched the lead to 24-7 with 3:38 left until halftime.
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