Ferris State Rolls Past Northwood To Win GLIAC Opener And Stay Perfect On Year

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Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally sixth-ranked Ferris State Bulldogs stayed perfect on the year as FSU opened Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action with a decisive 53-10 triumph over Northwood on Saturday (Sept. 15) at Hantz Stadium in Midland.

The Bulldogs rolled up more than 600 yards of total offense en route to improving to 3-0 overall with the dominating road win.

Junior quarterback Jayru Campbell had another big afternoon for FSU as he accounted for 323 total yards and four touchdowns in the victory.

Behind Campbell, the Bulldogs struck first with 10:34 to go in quarter one when they marched 89 yards in nine plays. Campbell capped the drive with his first of three rushing touchdowns, coming from a yard away.

The score remained 6-0 in FSU's favor until the 12:38 mark of the second frame when Campbell found the endzone again from two yards out. His second TD run finished a five-play, 74-yard drive.

Northwood finally found the scoreboard with 10:07 to play in the opening half on a 27-yard field goal from David Riser, which cut the margin to 13-3.

However, the Bulldogs responded and stretched the lead to 19-3 on a 22-yard touchdown run from senior back Derrick Portis with six minutes remaining in the half after an eight-play, 75-yard march. FSU then tacked on another first-half score with only 28 seconds left in the second period when Campbell reached paydirt from a yard away, finishing a lengthy 77-yard drive and giving the Bulldogs a 25-3 lead at halftime.

Ferris State started the second half strong by moving 74 yards in five plays with Campbell connecting on senior wideout Keyondre Craig for a 39-yard touchdown to stretch the lead to 32-3. Then, only three minutes later, the Bulldogs needed only three plays and 47 yards to increase the margin to 39-3 on a 38-yard TD run from Portis.

Northwood finally reached the endzone for the first time with 1:35 left in the third when Joey Clifford finished off a seven-play, 58-yard drive with a seven-yard scoring run.

In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs tacked on two more scores, starting with a six-yard TD carry from sophomore back Marvin Campbell with 11:53 left in the contest. His touchdown capped a 12-play, 62-yard drive. FSU followed it up with a 10-play, 63-yard jaunt, culminating with Travis Russell's three-yard TD throw to wideout Miles Jones with 7:37 left, accounting for the final margin.

Ferris State finished with 606 yards of total offense, including 257 in the air and 349 on the ground. FSU also went 5-of-5 in the red zone and finished 11-of-14 overall on third and fourth down.

Defensively, the Bulldogs held NU to only a two-of-14 showing on third down and limited the Timberwolves to 268 yards of total offense with only 76 in the air in posting their sixth-straight victory in the series.

Quarterback Jayru Campbell paced FSU with 225 yards passing on a 10-of-16 performance while also running for a squad-best 98 yards on 16 attempts. Portis added seven rushes for 74 yards and two TD's while Marvin Campbell ran for 59 yards on 10 attempts.

Craig had a big receiving day with three catches for 162 yards while Marcus Taylor, Sy Barnett, Miles Jones, Dion Earls and Robert Thomas all accounted for two catches apiece.

On the defensive side, Trevor Tank led FSU with seven stops while Delon Stephenson had five.

Ferris State will continue its two-game road stretch with a visit to Northern Michigan next Saturday, Sept. 22. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. (ET) inside the Superior Dome in Marquette.