Houghton, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University football
team claimed their seventh victory of the 2009 season as they
defeated Michigan Technological University today (Oct. 24), 38-28.
The Cardinals would score the first 28 points of the game as
quarterback Chuck Dowdell (Ft.
Wayne, Ind. / Indiana State) found the end zone on a 35-yard
rush with less than three minutes expired from the game clock to
begin the scoring for the Cardinals. Senior defensive
end Jordan
Barley (Menominee, Mich.) would recover a blocked punt off the
hands of defensive lineman Robert Callaway
(Mt. Morris, Mich. / Flint Beecher HS) to return the ball for a
touchdown to put Saginaw Valley up 14-0. The Cardinal offense
continued to stay strong as Xavier Walker
(Bridgewater, N.J. / Raritan HS) added his 10th touchdown of the
season when he scored from 13 yards out. With just under one
minute remaining in the first quarter, Dowdell would find wide
receiver Andrew
Beaver (Dearborn Heights, Mich.) on a 19-yard touchdown pass to
give Saginaw Valley a 28-0 advantage heading into the second
quarter.
Michigan Tech lit up the scoreboard for their first time of the
game as quarterback Brent Heim found the end zone on a
two-yard plunge halfway through the second quarter. Heim
would then find Steve Worthy on a 28-yard touchdown pass to
round-out the scoring for the half, making the score 28-14.
Saginaw Valley began the scoring in the second half as Dowdell
added his second touchdown of the game when he scored on a 19-yard
rush. The Huskies would continue their scoring early in the
fourth quarter as Heim would again find Worthy in the end zone on a
37 yard pass. The Cardinal offense found good field
position to set up sophomore kicker Austin Borchard
(San Juan Capistrano, Calif. / San Clemente HS) for a successful
field-goal attempt to give Saginaw Valley a 38-21 advantage.
Michigan Tech would drive down the field to find the end zone as
Heim found Phil Milbrath from eight yards out with roughly 30
seconds remaining in the contest. The Huskies executed a
successful on-side kick; however time would expire before they
reached the end zone, giving the Cardinals a 38-28 victory.
Walker became the first Cardinal running back to have over 100
rushing yards in one game this season. Walker would end the
game with 111 rushing yards and one touchdown.
The SVSU defense was led by John Jacobs
(Prudenville, Mich. / Midland Dow HS), who racked up 13 total
tackles and 2.5 tackles for a total loss of nine yards. Mike LeVand
(Grandville, Mich.) added nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss
of one yard while Carlton Downs
(Detroit, Mich. / Denby HS) tallied seven tackles and broke up one
Michigan Tech pass.
With the win, Saginaw Valley moves to 7-2 overall on the season
and 6-2 in the GLIAC while Michigan Tech falls to 1-7 overall and
1-7 in the GLIAC. The Cardinals return to action next
Saturday (Oct. 31) as they host the University of Findlay.
All Saginaw Valley fans are asked to wear red for a "Cardinal Red
Out". Kickoff is set for noon at Wickes Stadium.
