Ferris State Romps Past Rival GVSU To Claim Anchor-Bone Trophy For Fourth-Straight Year

Allendale, Mich. - Senior quarterback Jason Vander Laan passed for 419 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for three more as the nationally fifth-ranked Ferris State University Bulldogs defeated archrival and 14th-ranked Grand Valley State 61-24 on Satruday (Sept. 19) night to capture the Anchor Bone Trophy for the fourth consecutive year.

The Bulldogs broke up a 10-point halftime contest with a decisive second half before more than 16,000 fans while scoring the school's most points ever against the Lakers on the gridiron. FSU's current four-game win streak over GVSU is also tops in school history.
 
Saturday's game represented the fifth time in history in which both teams were ranked at kickoff and the first time since 1995 with both squads found among the top 15 teams in the country.
 
Senior receiver Antonio Agurs led the wideouts with 13 receptions for 153 yards, while sophomore JaJuan Pollock caught six balls for 90 yards. Both Jake Lampman and Shakur Sanders also had receiving touchdowns for the Bulldogs in the triumph.
 
Vander Laan began his night with a 25 yard completion to Agurs on the first play from scrimmage, but the Bulldogs' drive stalled. After a nice punt by junior Trevor Bermingham that was downed at the Grand Valley State three yard line, senior cornerback Troy Smith intercepted the first pass of the night by Lakers' quarterback Bart Williams.
 
The Bulldogs took over at the 31-yard line and after a fourth down conversion to Sanders, Vander Laan ran it in from five yards out to give FSU the game's first score.
 
However, GVSU responded with a big play of its own as Williams hit Brandon Bean for a 60-yard score to tie the game at 7-7 only five minutes into the contest.
 
The Lakers then took a 10-7 lead on their next drive with a 46-yard field goal from Joel Schipper, his career long.
 
Beginning a drive with just over three minutes left in the opening quarter, Vander Laan started with a 55-yard completion to Agurs before hitting Sanders in the end zone from five yards out to make it 14-10 in favor of the Bulldogs.
 
A sack by junior Anthony Darkangelo forced the Lakers' first punt of the game, and Ferris State began another drive at its own 14-yard line early in the second frame. Vander Laan first hit Pollock for a 23-yard gain before going deep to Lampman for a 50-yard touchdown to make it 21-10 Ferris State. The Bulldogs needed only four plays to march the 86 yards to paydirt.
 
Junior placekicker Nate Iveson extended the Bulldog lead to 24-10 on a 45-yard field goal with just 2:36 remaining in the first half.
 
Grand Valley State got back in the game when Williams hit Jamie Potts for a 30-yard touchdown, but the Bulldogs added another field goal from Iveson from 39 yards out with just five seconds left in the half to take a 27-17 lead into the locker room.
 
The Ferris State defense came out and forced two early punts to hold their two-score lead early in the third. Vander Laan then took his offensive unit on a long drive spanning more than six minutes and capped it off with a 3-yard touchdown run to make it 34-17 FSU with 2:37 to go in the third.
 
On his next drive, Vander Laan scored on a 10-yard touchdown scamper after a long punt return by junior Jaleel Canty to make it 41-17 after three quarters. The senior signal caller then tacked on seven more with his next effort, a 7-yard pass to senior wideout Kenny Feyh that extended the lead to 48-17.
 
Grand Valley had a late score when Williams hit Bean in the end zone for the second time to make it 48-24 with 2:26 to play in the game.
 
But, the Bulldogs weren't done yet as FSU finished with an exclamation point as senior running back Ben Hinamanu scored on a 76-yard run with 2:08 to play and sophomore defensive back Tavierre Thomas returned an interception 39 yards for the final score of the night.
 
Ferris State racked up 633 yards of total offense in the victory, including the 419 passing yards by Vander Laan. He also ran for a team-high 77 yards on 20 carries while accouting for six total touchdowns.
 
Defensively, the Bulldogs limited GVSU to only 262 total yards. The Lakers managed only 35 total yards rushing on 27 attempts and FSU held Grand Valley State to a four-of-14 showing on third down.
 
The victory was Ferris State's fourth in as many matchups against the Lakers under FSU head coach Tony Annese.
 
With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 2-0 overall and in the GLIAC while Grand Valley State dropped to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in league play.

Ferris State returns home to host Saginaw Valley State for homecoming next Saturday (Sept. 26) with kickoff set for 2 p.m. (ET) at Top Taggart Field. A large crowd is expected and tickets can be purchased in advance at StarTickets.com or call (231) 591-2888 for more information.