FSU Season Ends With Road Loss At SVSU

University Center, Mich. – Saginaw Valley State put a close to Ferris State’s 2009 football season as the Cardinals proved they belong in the NCAA Division II Playoffs with a convincing 41-7 triumph over the Bulldogs at Wickes Memorial Stadium on Saturday (Nov. 7) afternoon.

The Bulldogs fell behind 14-0 after the opening quarter and could never get back into the contest while finishing the year with a 1-10 overall record with the season finale setback.

SVSU, which was ranked 22nd in the nation and fifth in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional Rankings this past week, opened the scoring with 9:40 to go in the initial period on a 45-yard TD pass from Charles Dowdell to Nick Gallina.

The Cardinals added a second first period score on a four-yard scoring run from Xavier Walker to make it 14-0 with 3:59 left in the opening stanza.

SVSU added two more scores in the second quarter as Dowell scampered in on a 59-yard quarterback keeper with 4:14 left and then Brandon Hayes found paydirt from four-yards out with only 46 seconds left in the period to make it 28-0 at halftime.

FSU trimmed the lead to 28-7 on a 59-yard scoring pass from senior quarterback Kyle Parrish to sophomore receiver Mike Ryan with 13:22 left in the third. SVSU then fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Ferris moved inside the Cardinal 10-yard line before throwing an interception in the endzone.

SVSU followed up the defensive interception by driving 80 yards in eight plays and scored with 8:35 to go in the third quarter on Dowdell’s seven-yard TD run. The Cardinals added a final score at the 12:21 mark of the final period on Dowdell’s 44-yard touchdown pass to Justin Groeneveld.

The Cardinals rolled up 523 yards of total offense and 24 first downs while limiting the Bulldogs to only 130 yards and 11 first downs, including only eight yards of offense in the opening half.

FSU finished with 24 rushes for -42 yards as the Cardinals sacked Parrish eight times on the day. Meanwhile, Saginaw Valley State ran for 321 yards on 51 attempts and Dowdell threw for 202 yards on 10-of-19 passing.

Parrish wrapped up his career with 172 passing yards on 14-of-24 throwing, but was intercepted twice. Senior wideout Chris Wilson tallied three catches for 25 yards while Ryan had two grabs for 66 yards.

The Cardinals were led on the ground by Dowdell’s 111 rushing yards on nine carries. Galen Stone caught five passes for 100 yards.

Defensively, senior linebacker Matt Ryan paced FSU with a game-high 18 tackles while fellow senior Nick Butler wrapped up his career with 12 total stops. John Jacobs had a team-best 11 hits for the Cardinals.