Football Falls At Grand Valley State 42-28

The Northwood football team dropped a 42-28 contest at Grand Valley State Saturday night (October 20).

Northwood is now 4-4 overall, 3-4 in the GLIAC. GVSU improves to 6-2 overall, 5-2 in the GLIAC.

The Timberwolves got on the board first, as Northwood took advantage of a GVSU turnover with a 17-yard touchdown run by junior Jordan Jonker (Hudsonville, Mich.). That run came on third and 15 and put Northwood up 7-0 with 10:45 remaining in the first quarter.

Grand Valley State took the momentum at that point, scoring 21 straight points to go up 21-7 late in the third. It appeared the Lakers were going to add to the lead, but NU got a big turnover to get back into the game. Fabian Jackson (Gainesville, Ga./North Hall) forced a fumble at the Northwood 5, which was picked up by Corinthian Gray (Pontiac, Mich.). Gray returned the fumble 53 yards to the GVSU 36 yard line. Four plays later, freshman quarterback Mark Morris (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) found tight end Andrew Harig (Fruitport, Mich.) for a one-yard touchdown. That touchdown was the first of the career for both Harig and Morris and made the score 21-14 at halftime. GVSU held a 294-114 advantage in total yards in the half, but Northwood forced the Lakers into the only two turnovers of the half.

Grand Valley State came out strong in the second half, scoring 21 straight points to make the score 42-14. Northwood got a pair of touchdowns late in the game thanks to a pair of unusual plays. Bryan Thomas (Lauterdale Lakes, Fla.) took a reverse and then threw a deep pass to freshman Carrington Thompson (Houston, Texas/Lamar), who fought threw a pair of defenders to score a 40-yard touchdown to make the score 42-21. Later, the Timberwolves' Kyle Fikki (Hobe Sound, Fla./South Fork) blocked a field goal, which was picked up by Spencer Remtema (Rockford, Mich.) and returned 76 yards for a touchdown to make the score 42-28 with 3:29 remaining in the contest. That was as close as the Timberwolves would get.

For the game, Grand Valley State finished with a 579-271 advantage in total yards. Northwood finished the game with 176 yards rushing and 95 yards passing. Jonker and Rashad Hedgepeth (Rocky Mount, N.C./Northern Nash) each finished with 53 yards rushing, while Remtema led the Northwood defense with 11 tackles.

Northwood will host Northern Michigan Saturday (October 20). Kickoff is scheduled for Noon.