CANTON, OHIO -- The No. 18 Saginaw Valley State University football team came away with a convincing 37-14 win over new Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member Malone University today (Sept. 8).
The Cardinals (2-0, 1-0 GLIAC) received the opening kickoff and wasted little time getting the offense going, as they put together a 10-play 68-yard drive that resulted in a one-yard touchdown run by Tim Hogue (Inkster, Mich.).
Mason Duke (Attica, Mich./Imlay City HS) and the Cardinal defense would force a fumble on the next series giving SVSU excellent field position on the Malone 29-yard line. Meijer "Player of the Game," Jonathon Jennings (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville South HS) found wide receiver Michael Albrecht (Midland, Mich.) on the ensuing play for a touchdown to put the Cardinals up 14-0 with 8:35 to play in the first quarter. Jennings finished the contest 16-of-25 for 199 yards and two touchdowns.
Malone (0-1, 0-1 GLIAC) cut the deficit to 14-7 just seconds into the second quarter on a 22-yard pass from Will Szpor to Justin McLean.
With 8:24 to play in the first half, Jeff Janis (Tawas City, Mich./Tawas Area HS) hauled in a 50-yard pass from Jennings to setup a 23-yard field goal by Scott Stanford (Novi, Mich.) pushing the Cardinals advantage to 17-7.
Jennings and Janis would hook-up again with :51 seconds left in the half on a 33-yard touchdown strike to give SVSU a 24-7 advantage. Janis finished the afternoon with four catches for 93 yards and a score.
A Pioneer fumble with :42 seconds left in the half gave the Cardinals the ball inside the Malone 15 yard line. From there, Stanford tacked on his second field goal of the game, this time from 21-yards out, to give the Cardinals the 27-7 halftime lead.
SVSU connected on their third field goal of the afternoon to go up 30-7, after the SVSU defense forced the Pioneers to punt on their first possession of the second half.
With 6:52 left in the game Jamohn Martin (Ravena, Mich.) would find the endzone on a two-yard run to cap off a 10-play, 64 yard drive for his first career touchdown.
The Pioneers would add a touchdown with 1:44 to play to make the final score 37-14.
The defense was led by Grant Caserta (Holland, Mich./West Ottawa HS) who had six tackles and Jeff Heath (Lake Orion, Mich.) who had four tackles and an interception.
The Cardinals will return home next Saturday (Sept. 15) when they host the University of Findlay for Hall of Fame weekend at 7:00 PM.
