Player Profiles - of College Football Games

192
2006 NCAA Division II National Championship Game
Grand Valley State 17, Northwest Missouri State 14
Florence, Ala. • Dec. 16, 2006
Braly Municipal Stadium
Scoring 1 2 3 4 TP
Grand Valley State 0 10 0 7 17
Northwest Missouri St. 0 7 7 0 14
QTR Time Team-Play(PAT){Plays-Yards} NW GV
2 14:46 GV Todd Carter 30 yd field goal
{11-67, 4:30} 0 3
2 11:20 NW Kendall Wright 26 yd pass from R. Robinson
(Tommy Frevert kick) {8-80, 3:26} 7 3
2 7:06 GV Eric Fowler 2yd pass from Cullen Finnerty
(Todd Carter kick) {11-70, 4:14} 7 10
3 7:00 NW Xavier Omon 7 yd run (Tommy Frevert kick)
{5-25, 2:16} 14 10
4 13:06 GV Cullen Finnerty 4 yd run (Todd Carter kick)
{6-36, 2:49} 14 17
TEAM STATISTICS NW GV
First Downs 21 19
Rushes/Yards 29/124 38/123
Passes (A-C-I) 33-21-3 33-15-0
Yards Passing 226 225
Total Offense 350 348
Punts/Average 5/33.0 5/33.0
Fumbles/Lost 1-1 3-2
Penalties 3-20 6-35
Time of Possession 27:27 32:33
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
RUSHING: GV-Finnerty 22-115, Martin 12-40; NW-Omon 26-129.
PASSING: GV-Finnerty 15-33-0, 225; NW-Mathews 20-32-3, 200.
RECEIVING: GV-Fowler 7-96, Mitchell 2-55; NW-Wright 5-44, Robinson 4-60.
A-7437
2007 Laker Football Media Guide
All-Time Postseason Summaries
Florence, AL. - Grand Valley State claimed its fourth NCAA DII
National Championship in the last five years Saturday afternoon at
Braly Municipal Stadium with its 17-14 victory over Northwest
Missouri State in the title game. GVSU finished the year 15-0, becoming
just the second team in NCAA DII history to go 15-0 in a season.
Cullen Finnerty's 4-yard TD run with 13:06 left in the game proved to
be the game-winner and he engineered a 7-play, 19-yard drive that ran
out the clock for the victory in the fourth quarter. Finnerty carried the
ball three times for 12 yards and completed two passes for nine yards
on the closing drive. Finnerty completed a 4-yard pass to Eric Fowler
on third-and-two to seal the win.
Finnerty's game-winning drive started after the Laker defense
forced a three-and-out deep in NW Missouri State territory. The
Bearcats were pinned deep in their own territory after Bill Brechin
downed a Justin Trumble punt at the NWMST 2-yard line. Kyle
Johnson's punt went out of bounds at the NWMST 36-yard line to give
the Lakers good field position and set up the game winning drive.
Astin Martin started the drive with a 5-yard carry and Finnerty then
completed a 17-yard pass to Antion Trent. Finnerty carried the ball 4yards
to the Bearcat 10 and Martin then toted the ball to the three
before Finnerty capped the drive with his TD run.
"These guys just kept playing for 60 minutes and found a way to
win another game," said GVSU head coach Chuck Martin.
The Laker defense came up big late in the game when Matt Beaty
forced a fumble that Bill Brechin recovered at the Laker 21 with 3:15
left in the game. GVSU picked up two first downs and ran out the
clock.
Junior corner Bill Brechin kept the Lakers in the game in the first
quarter. He picked off a pass in the endzone on NW Missouri's first
possession, then picked off another pass at the Laker seven to foil
another drive.
"Bill Brechin made four game changing plays in the game and those
two first quarter interceptions kept us in the game," said GVSU head
coach Chuck Martin.
Grand Valley State got on the board first early in the second quarter.
Todd Carter hit a 30-yard field goal after Finnerty drove the Lakers
67-yards in 11 plays. The Bearcats answered quickly, driving 80-yards
in 8-plays. Kendall Wright hit Rafael Robinson with a 26-yard halfback
pass to give NW Missouri its first lead.
The lead was shortlived as Finnerty drove GVSU 70-yards in 11plays
for a score. Finnerty found Fowler all alone in the left corner of
the endzone for a 2-yard TD pass. Finnerty rushed for 33 yards on the
drive and completed three passes for 37 yards. Todd Carter added the
PAT for a 10-7 Laker lead.
NW Missouri State appeared to be going in for a score late in the
first half, but junior corner Brandon Carr picked off the Lakers' third
pass of the first half when he stepped in front of a Josh Mathews pass
at the goal line with 2:11 left in the second quarter.
GVSU gave the Bearcats the ball deep in its own end following a
low snap that Justin Trumble went down to field and put his knee
down. NWMST needed five plays to go 25 yards for the score and a
14-10 lead.
Cullen Finnerty completed 15-of-33 passes for 225 yards and
rushed for 115 yards on 22 carries for 340 yards of total offense.
Finnerty passed for one TD and ran for another. Finnerty became the
first QB in NCAA DII Championship game history to pass for over
200 yards (225 passing) and rush for over 100 (115). Astin Martin
rushed for 40 yards on 12 carries. Eric Fowler caught seven passes for
96 yards, despite missing almost all of the second half with a hamstring
injury. Terry Mitchell caught two passes for 55 yards. John
Mathews added two receptions for 24 yards, Sean Stevens one for 19
yards and Preston Garris one for 17 yards.
Matt Beaty led the defense with a season-high 12 tackles, while
senior Mike McFadden chipped in seven stops. Dan Skuta added seven
stops and Samad Cain six.