Player Profiles - of College Football Games

All-Time Postseason Summaries
2001 NCAA Division II Quarterfinal Playoff Game
Grand Valley State 33, Saginaw Valley State 30
Allendale, Mich. • Nov. 24, 2001
Lubbers Stadium
Scoring 1 2 3 4 TP
Saginaw Valley State 10 7 6 7 30
Grand Valley State 0 13 14 6 33
QTR Time Team-Play(PAT){Plays-Yards} SV GV
1 10:01 SV Mark LaFreniere 2 yd pass from Matt
LaFleur (Eric Houle kick) {6-39, 2:50} 7 0
1 0:06 SV Eric Houle 39 yd field goal {6-58, 2:28} 10 0
2 13:24 GV David Kircus 25 yd pass from Todd
Wojciechowski (Ryan Brady pass failed)
{5-42, 1:42} 10 6
2 9:33 GV David Kircus 3 yd pass from Todd
Wojciechowski (Kevin Sonntag kick)
{9-33, 2:42} 10 13
2 3:33 SV Matt LaFleur 70 yd run (Eric Houle kick)
{3-59, 1:30} 17 13
3 9:44 GV Phil Condon 11 yd pass from Ryan Brady
(Kevin Sonntag kick) {7-45, 1:44} 17 20
3 4:55 GV David Kircus 38 yd pass from Ryan Brady
(Kevin Sonntag kick) {1-38, 0:01} 17 27
3 1:03 SV Matt LaFleur 4 yd run (Eric Houle kick
blocked) {8-46, 3:52} 23 27
4 5:34 GV Ryan Brady 3 yd run (Ryan Brady pass falied)
{6-64, 2:07} 23 33
4 3:27 SV Keath Bartynski 13 yd pass from Matt
LaFleur (Eric Houle kick) {6-64, 2:07} 30 33
TEAM STATISTICS SV GV
First Downs 14 24
Rushes/Yards 33/175 59/276
Passes (A-C-I) 23/15/2 22/11/1
Yards Passing 213 136
Total Offense 354 382
Punts/Average 4/38.3 5/41.4
Fumbles/Lost 3/1 1/1
Penalties/Yards 6/36 6/36
Time of Possession 28:19 31:41
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
RUSHING: GV-Spearmon 25-113, Brady 22-88; SV-LaFleur 15-87, Bartynski 12-48.
PASSING: GV-Wojciechowski 8-15-0, 77; SV-LaFleur 15-23-2, 213.
RECEIVING: GV-Kircus 4-73, Condon 3-31; SV LaFreniere 6-45, Bartnski 4-73
A - 3737
by Joe Conklin
Brian Kelly’s voice pierced the din in the jubilant Grand Valley State locker room.
“This was a game for the ages,” the Lakers’ coach told his football players Saturday. “This is
our moment.”
No. 2-ranked Grand Valley rode raw emotion and the confidence of a third-string quarterback
to a 33-30 victory over Saginaw Valley State at rainy and windswept Lubbers Stadium and a berth
in the NCAA Division II national semifinals.
Sophomore Ryan Brady threw two touchdown passes in the second half and ran for a third TD
as the Lakers (12-0) beat Grand Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival Saginaw Valley
(11-2) for the second tme this season.
The Lakers, who hadn’t won a playoff game in school history until this season will meet No.
9 Catawaba (N.C.) in next Saturday’s semifinals.
Brady, a starting wide receiver for the Lakers, was pressed into service at quarterback late in
the second quarter when starter Todd Wojciechowski suffered a rib injury.
“I’ve always been a quarterback at heart,” said Brady, who ran for 88 yards on 22 carries and
completed three of seven passes for 59 yards and one TD. “I always knew if anything drastic happened
or an emergency had to come, I would get thrown in there.”
Brady’s 3-yard run with 5:34 left in the game was the winning touchdown. He also threw an
11-yard TD pass to tight end Phil Condon, a 38-yarder to Kircus and ran out the clock in the last
3:27 after Saginaw Valley cut the gap to 33-30.
Kircus caught 25- and 3- yard TD passes from Wojciechowski in the first half as Grand Valley
rallied from a 10-0 deficit. Kircus has 32 TD catches this season.
Grand Valley’s Lucius Hawkins had two interceptions to spark the Laker’s defense that was
under constant pressure from Saginaw Valley quarterback Matt LaFleur, who Kelly called “one
of the most creative” players he’s seen in 15 years of coaching at Grand Valley.
“Our whole focus was on LaFleur,” said Grand Valley linebacker Clarence Lindsay, who had
eight tackles and three sacks for nine yards in losses. “He’ll make it happen for them...but he
can’t beat a team all by himself.”
LaFleur showed his creativity in a 70-yard TD when he sc rambled to turn a failed pass play
into a score. He also kept the Cardinals’ hopes alive with a desperate 33-yard fourth-down pass
to LaFreniere on their last drive.
“I can’t say enough about how disappointed I am right now,” LaFleur said. “I’m speechless
basically.”
The TD pass to Bartynski came with 3:27 left in the game, but Grand Valley ran out the clock.
“I feel like we ran out of time,” Saginaw Valley coach Randy Awrey said. “I think we would
have won the game if we had gotten the ball back”
2002 • 2003 • 2005 • 2006 National Champions
2001 NCAA Division II Semifinal Playoff Game
Grand Valley State 34, Catawaba 16
Allendale, Mich. • Dec. 1, 2001
Lubbers Stadium
Scoring 1 2 3 4 TP
Catawaba College 7 0 3 6 16
Grand Valley State 0 13 0 21 34
QTR Time Team-Play(PAT){Plays-Yards} CC GV
1 7:15 CC Nick Means 27 yd pass from Luke Samples
(Matt Gross kick) {3-51, 0:54} 7 0
2 9:27 GV Terrance Banks 12 yd pass from Todd
Wojciechowski (Kevin Sonntag kick) {5-54,
1:06} 7 7
2 0:54 GV Scott Mackey 39 yd interception return
(Kevin Sonntag kick failed) 7 13
3 5:03 CC Matt Gross 25 yd field goal {6-54, 2:05} 10 13
4 14:58 GV Reggie Spearmon 1 yd run (Kevin Sonntag
kick) {11-77, 5:05) 10 20
4 6:36 CC Rodney Wallace 4 yd run (Matt Gross kick
failed) {8-41, 3:35} 16 20
4 5:19 GV Reggie Spearmon 3 yd run (Kevin Sonntag
kick) {3-72, 1:17} 16 27
4 0:39 GV Reggie Spearmon 2 yd run (Kevin Sonntag
kick) {8-53, 4:22} 16 34
TEAM STATISTICS CC GV
First Downs 16 18
Rushes/Yards 33/91 50/242
Passes (A-C-I) 36/22/2 14/7/0
Yards Passing 238 155
Total Offense 329 397
Punts/Average 7/30.7 6/40.3
Fumbles 0/0 1/1
Penalties 4/30 5/45
Time of Possession 32:26 27:34
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
RUSHING: GV-Spearmon 20-121, Brady 23-107; CC-Wallace 19-68, Bland 6-16;
PASSING: GV-Wojciechowski 4-7-0, 63; CC-Samples 22-36-2, 238
RECEIVING: GV-Kircus 3-78, Banks 2-39; CC-Squirewell 8-51, Means 7-64
A-6585
by Howie Beardsley
Grand Valley State University quarterbacks Ryan Brady and Todd Wojciechowski
acknowledge that neither comes close to equaling the talents of Harlon Hill Trophy
finalist Curt Anes.
But together, Brady and Wojciechowski have been good enough in Anes’ absence
to lead the Lakers and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to some
uncharted waters.
Grand Valley took advantage of a two-quarterback scheme, another strong running
day by Reggie Spearmon and a stalwart defensive effort in a 34-16 triumph over
Catawaba College in an NCAA Division semifinal game in front of 6,585 spectators
at Lubbers Stadium.
The outcome sends the Lakers (13-0) into Saturday’s 2 p.m. national championship
game against North Dakota in Florence, Ala.
Fourth-quarater touchdown runs of 1, 3, and 2 yards from Spearmon - part of the
junior’s 20-carry, 121-yard outing - allowed the Lakers to distance themselves from
a Catawaba squad that never got its patented running attack rolling.
“People said we couldn’t get this far when we lost Curt,” said defensive tackle
Shad Risk, referring to the season-ending dislocated knee and torn posterior cruciate
ligament Anes suffered in the postseason opener against Bloomsburg (Pa.)
University. “Be we all united together. We’ve done it the entire playoffs.”
GVSU accounted for 267 rushing yards and 397 total yards. Brady and
Wojciechowski combined to complete 7 of 14 passes for 155 yards, including
Wojciechowski’s 12-yard scoring pass to Terrance Banks early in the first quarter to
tie the score at 7-7.
Brady also gained 107 rushing yards on 23 attempts.
Catawaba (11-2) opened the scoring when quarterback Luke Samples found Nick
Means for a 27-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter.
A key play came when the Lakers saftety Scott Mackey intercepted Samples and
dashed 39 yards for a touchdown with 54 seconds left in the second quarter for a 13-
7 halftime advantage.
A 25-yard field goal from Matt Gross got the Indians within 13-10 with 5:03 left
in the third quarter. But the rest of the game belonged to the Lakers’ defense and
Spearmon, who has now rushed 69 times in the playoffs for 328 yards and six touchdowns.
“You have to give a lot of credit to Grand Valley to play with so much intensity
in a great football environment,” said Catawabo coach David Bennett. “We did not
capitalize early on field position, but Grand Valley did a great job changing up
schemes. And on defense, their mentality is, ‘You’re not going to run it against us,’
and they use brute force to make sure you don’t.”
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