UNIVERSITY CENTER - The Saginaw Valley State University football team, ranked #20 in the 2014 preseason D2Football.com poll, welcomed #15 University of Indianapolis to Wickes Stadium for both teams' season opener. After a tightly-contested game through halftime, the Greyhounds pulled ahead in the second half and posted a 24-10 victory over the Cardinals.
The game started with both teams eating up some clock with the run game and the score stood at 0-0 after a full quarter of play.
The Cardinals would strike first, driving down the field and taking a 7-0 lead after junior quarterback Keith Moore found sophomore wideout Leonte Degraffenreid for a five yard scoring play. The scoring drive went 80 yards on seven plays and took just 2:32.
Indianapolis would respond with 8:32 showing on the clock in the second quarter, using a 10 yard pass play to knot the score at 7-7.
The Greyhounds added a field goal with just 1:57 left in the half and would take that 10-7 lead into halftime.
In a seemingly even game through the first 30 minutes of play, momentum shifted Indy's way on the first play of the second half. Tuwan Payton took the opening kick-off and returned it 94 yards to pay dirt for a 17-7 lead at the 14:46 mark in the third.
SVSU would respond with a Scott Stanford 25 yard field goal seven minutes later, capping-off a 12 play, 63 yard drive that made the score 17-10.
The scoreboard would stay stagnant for a while after that, as the next score came when the Greyhounds finished-off an 11 play, 86 yard drive with a touchdown run. That gave them a 24-10 lead with 11:14 to play in the contest.
That's all the scoring the game would see, as Indy would close-out for the 14-point victory to open the season.
Moore was 12-19 passing the ball for 137 yards and the touchdown to Degraffenreid. He added 56 yards on the ground on seven carries.
Senior tight end Andrew Dillon had three catches for 85 yards to lead the team in receiving. Junior Bryan Fobbs also showed some flashes of his potential in the second half, as he hauled-in three catches for 30 yards after not playing in the first half.
Redshirt freshman Bryan Jones led the defensive attack with 13 tackles in his collegiate debut. He was named the Meijer "Player of the Game." Tejay Boes added seven tackles on the defensive line while Dwight Trammer and Murtada Jabbie each added six stops.
Saginaw Valley falls to 0-1 on the season while Indy is 1-0. The Cardinals return home next Saturday (9/13) for a GLIAC opener against the Tiffin University Dragons. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm in Wickes Stadium.
