#2 Ferris State Holds Onto Anchor-Bone Trophy By Beating #6 GVSU Before Record Crowd In Allendale

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Postgame Interivew - Coach Annese 
Postgame Interview - Jared Bernhardt 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally second-ranked Ferris State University Bulldogs held onto the Anchor-Bone Trophy for yet another year as FSU pulled out a 35-28 road win over West Michigan rival Grand Valley State on Saturday (Oct. 16) night before a record crowd at Lubbers Stadium in Allendale.

Ferris State beat sixth-ranked GVSU for the ninth time in 11 matchups under head coach Tony Annese, including the fifth-straight time en route to the Bulldogs' 34th consecutive regular-season victory dating back to 2017. Along with being ranked second and sixth, respecitvely, in the D2Football.com poll, both teams were also unbeaten entering the game and listed third and seventh in the nation in the American Football Coaches Association D2 Rankings.

In front of a hostile environment featuring a sold out crowd of 17,007 fans, the Bulldogs took advantage of three Grand Valley State turnovers and built a 28-7 lead early in the second half. FSU then withstood a late charge by the Lakers to preserve the victory.

Saturday night's contest marked the return of Bulldog senior quarterback Jared Bernhardt, who had not played since being injured in week two. He completed 12-of-16 passes for 217 yards and two scores while also running for a game-high 116 yards on the ground.

Grand Valley State struck first midway thru the opening quarter when quarterback Cade Peterson found the end zone on a 33-yard scoring run to cap a nine-play, 70-yard Laker scoring drive.

However, the Bulldogs responded late in the first frame by moving 72 yards in seven plays with Bernhardt finding freshman receiver Tyrese Hunt-Thompson on a 32-yard scoring throw to knot the game up after one period.

In the second quarter, the Bulldogs were pinned back near their own goal line, but eventually drove the length of the field with Bernhardt hooking up with wideout Xavier Wade on a 20-yard TD toss, giving FSU its first lead at 14-7 with 6:25 to go in the half.

Late in the first half, the Lakers took advantage of a Bulldog turnover and marched down to the one-yard line, but a fumble near the end zone turned the tide. FSU senior cornerback Alex Thomas scooped up the loose ball and raced 99 yards the other way to score and give Ferris State a 21-7 lead at halftime.

The Bulldogs extended their lead on the opening drive of the second half, moving 75 yards in only eight plays before senior tailback Tyler Minor scored from seven yards out to push the margin to 28-7.

GVSU, though, did not quit and the Lakers pulled within 21-14 on Bryce Young-Walls' 13-yard reception from Peterson with 5:11 remaining in the third. Then, following a short FSU punt that went out of bounds, the Lakers took advantage of a short field and cut the deficit to 28-21 when Hunter Rison scored from three yards away to finish off a short 36-yard scoring drive with only 11 seconds left in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, however, Ferris State put together another key drive, traveling 87 yards in 11 plays with Minor finding the end zone a second time on a seven-yard TD run with 3:45 left to push the advantage back to two scores.

The Lakers answered with a six-play, 57-yard drive capped by Peterson's eight-yard throw to Rison, trimming the lead to 35-28 with 2:19 to play, but the onside kick was recovered by FSU's Thomas and the Bulldogs then earned a first down to run out the clock and hold on for the win.

The Bulldogs totaled 364 yards of offense compared to GVSU's 381 total yards in the game. The Lakers ran for 206 yards on the ground compared to FSU's 129 yards, but the Bulldogs threw for 235 yards with the Lakers throwing for only 175 yards.

Along with the fumble recovery return, Thomas also intercepted a pass and compiled six stops defensively for the Bulldogs. Major Dedmond led FSU with nine tackles while senior Cyntell Williams had eight tackles.

Offensively, in addition to Bernhardt, Minor ran for 40 yards on the ground while Wade had a team-high four catches for 67 yards.

The victory was the Bulldogs' 19th-straight on the road and it also marked the 27th consecutive GLIAC win for FSU, which improved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play this year.

Ferris State will travel to Michigan Tech next Saturday (Oct. 23) to face the Huskies at Sherman Field in Houghton. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. (ET).