Ferris State blows out Grand Valley State, 54-20, to advance in Division II tournament
BIG RAPIDS — Many fans' treks to the NCAA Division II football second round playoff game at No. 1-ranked Ferris State were delayed due to a blowout of snow hitting Michigan on Saturday.
By halftime, the Bulldogs were well on their way to a blowout of their own, as Ferris State led No. 4-ranked Grand Valley State by 26. The Bulldogs finished with a 34-point edge, 54-20, for their second win this season over their GLIAC rival . Grand Valley’s only two losses this season came to the Bulldogs.
“People that aren’t from Michigan think that we’re used to this,” said Ferris State head coach Tony Annese in reference to the snow. “But literally, that is the biggest snow game I’ve coached on this peninsula. And it’s really tough, and I thought we handled it really well.”
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Ferris State (11-0) scored four touchdowns on its first five possessions of the game, then added two field goals in the second quarter.
Both teams scored early, with Ferris State opening with a TD on the third play of the game, a 65-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jared Bernhardt. Grand Valley (10-2) answered with a touchdown 3:34 in on a 6-yard pass from Cade Peterson to Bryace Young-Walls. The touchdown was set up on a 66-yard pass from Peterson to Cody Tierney, putting the Lakers at the 11.
After its next possession stalled with a three-and-out, Ferris State then reeled off three consecutive touchdowns, starting with a Bernhardt 1-yard run. Bernhardt is in his first season at Ferris as an unusual grad transfer — he was a star lacrosse player at Maryland before deciding to give football a try. (The Maryland lacrosse Twitter account tweeted well wishes at Bernhardt before the Bulldogs' game.)
Bernhardt's score was followed by Marcus Taylor’s 76-yard reception from Bernhardt during the next series, as the Bulldogs covered 88 yards in four plays. The Bulldogs' fourth touchdown came on a short jump pass to tight end Mason Pline, who took it 26 yards to the end zone. Two field goals by Sy Barnett, including a 42-yarder to end the half, gave the Bulldogs its 26-point lead going into the break.
GVSU got back on track, but Ferris State maintained control. With 8:46 left in the third, QB Mylik Mitchell scored for Ferris on a 13-yard run to make it 40-7. After GVSU brought the deficit back to 26, Ferris State finished things off with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to Marcus Taylor and a 3-yard run by Evan Cummings following a 59-yard punt return. Hunter Rison caught a 15-yard pass for Grand Valley’s final score.
“The turnovers and the explosive plays, we gave up too many explosive plays defensively,” GVSU coach Matt Mitchell said. “Not our best performance when you need it the most. Credit to Ferris State, they won the game, get to advance and play on.”
The Bulldogs scored six touchdowns on drives of five plays or fewer, and finished with 532 yards to Grand Valley’s 276. The Bulldogs also had four takeaways: four interceptions and a fumble recovery.
“A good win for us,” Annese said. “We had a bye week before we played them the first time and we had a bye week this time, and it gave us an opportunity to put in some installs. I thought it helped us to do some things against them in reaction to the first game (a 35-28 win by Ferris on Oct. 16) where they probably didn’t have as much time to do that. So that was pretty big.”
Ferris will host Northwest Missouri State in its third-round matchup. The Bulldogs beat the Bearcats in each of their past two meetings, in 2018 and ’19.
Saturday’s announced attendance was 3,742.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ferris State blows out GVSU, 54-20, to advance in Division II tourney
