The Saginaw Valley State University football team hosts Gannon in the second of three-straight home games to begin the 2025 season.

 

The Cardinals look to bounce back after suffering a 28-21 loss to Northeastern State in the season-opening game on Thursday, August 28 in the Annual Red Feather Classic.

 

The Riverhawks limited possession as they completed four scoring drives that lasted over six minutes, three of which came in the first half. Two of those drives were North of eight minutes as they won the time of possession battl, holding the ball for almost 40 minutes.

 

Sophomore quarterback Mason McKenzie combined for 344 total yards with three touchdowns. He completed 14-of-21 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing 12 times for 101 yards and another score.

 

Wide Receiver Braden Hill led with three receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown. It is the first time in his career that he totaled over 100 receiving yards.

 

Linebacker Christian Boivin had a spectacular debut for SVSU as he totaled 18 tackles, seven solo, and half a sack. His biggest stop of the evening came on a 4th-and-1 in the third quarter, where he stopped NSU short and gave the ball back to the Cardinals on downs.

 

Defensive end Adom LeDuc set a career high with 10 tackles in the game, three solo, and a sack to bring his career total to 12.5. Brandon Lewis recorded nine tackles, three solo, and a pass breakup. Sean Hodges and Jaden Bevier had eight tackles, with Bevier adding a half sack to his stat line. Junyoung Chung finished with six tackles to help lead the defense.

• The Cardinals were chosen third in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches poll after gaining one first-place vote and totalling 38 points.

• 2024 GLIAC Freshman of the Year Mason McKenzie will have two of his top three targets returning this season with two-time All-GLIAC players senior Eric Craft (Waterford, Mich.) and redshirt-junior Terrence Brown Jr. (Detroit, Mich.). Craft finished second on the team with 27 catches for 428 yards with two scores a year ago. Brown was a threat out of the backfield with 21 receptions, 337 yards, and a team-best four touchdown catches. Brown was the team leader in all-purpose yards with 1,049 and scoring with 66 points with his 11 total touchdowns (six rushing, four receiving, one punt return).

• SVSU returns two 2nd-Team All-GLIAC selections on offense with redshirt-junior running back Jaquan Howard (Chicago, Ill.) and senior offensive lineman Joe Botello (Lansing, Mich.).

• All-GLIAC redshirt-junior defensive lineman Adom LeDuc (Utica, Mich.) returns on defense for the Cardinals. LeDuc finished with 46 tackles, five sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups, and a forced fumble. He recorded five or more tackles four times, including recording six tackles in a game three times in 2024.

• Senior Timothy Alonzo Jr. (Maple Heights, Ohio) joins LeDuc on the defensive line. Alonzo appeared in nine games a season ago. Redshirt-sophomore linebacker James McDonald (Warren, Mich.) returns after nine games of experience in his debut for the Cardinals. Redshirt-sophomores DJ Voltz (Saginaw, Mich.) and Sean Hodges (Detroit, Mich.), along with redshirt-junior Christian Ellison (Flint, Mich.), return in the defensive backfield. Voltz played in all 11 games for the Cardinals, while Hodges saw action in 10 games and Ellison appeared in nine.

• Saginaw Valley State looks to stop a three-game skid dating back to the end of 2024. The Cardinals have lost by a combined 14 points during that stretch.

• The 2025 schedule features seven home games and four road contests. SVSU draws three-straight at home (Northeastern State, Ganon, Northwood) to begin the season before making its only trip out of the state of Michigan in week four againat New Haven in Connecticut. The Fighting Cardinals then open GLIAC play for a homecoming game against Northern Michigan before hosting Roosevelt the following week. Saginaw Valley then makes the first of two trips to Grand Rapids with a game at Grand Valley State for week seven before hosting Wayne State the next weekend. The second trip to Grand Rapids comes in week nine against Davenport. SVSU hosts Ferris State for the final home game of the season in week 10. It is the first time the Bulldogs have visited Saginaw Valley since the 2022 season. The season wraps with a trip to Houghton for a game against the Michigan Tech Huskies.

 

The Saginaw Valley State Cardinals named the team captains for the 2025 season. 

 

Quarterback Mason McKenzie, receiver Eric Craft, and offensive linemen Ryan Whitely and Tyus Thompson join defensive lineman Adom LeDuc and linebacker Christian Boivin as the six captains.