Match-up Between #1 Grand Valley State and #25 Wayne State Highlights Week 11 Action

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Grand Valley State still remains in the top spot in this week's AFCA D-II Coaches Poll after defeating Northern Michigan, 45-14. The GLIAC also has strong representation in the super regional no. 3 rankings, with Grand Valley also on top of that poll, Ashland still in fourth place, Wayne State at seventh, Michigan Tech in eighth, and Saginaw Valley State entering in the tenth spot.

Top-ranked Grand Valley travels to face #25 Wayne State for a noon match-up of ranked teams. #24 Ashland hosts Findlay at 1 pm. Saginaw Valley State visits Ferris State and Michigan Tech heads south to play Northwood in a pair of noon games. Tiffin hosts Hillsdale in a 1 pm contest and Northern Michigan will pay a visit to Indianapolis to battle the Greyhounds in a 2:30 pm tilt.

Five super regional no. 3 teams appear in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top 25: Grand Valley State is still at #1 in the poll. Minnesota-Duluth and Chadron State sit in spots six and 12, respectively. Joining Grand Valley in the rankings from the GLIAC are Ashland in the 24th position and Wayne State making its first-ever AFCA poll appearance at No. 25.

GLIAC Football By The Numbers...(5,2,1)

There are five GLIAC football teams listed in the top-10 of the fifth NCAA Division II Super Regional Three Rankings, which were released Nov. 3. Grand Valley State (9-0) remains atop the rankings, with Ashland University (7-3) at fourth and Wayne State University (8-2) in the seventh position. Michigan Tech (7-3) slid back to eighth in the rankings, while Saginaw Valley State (6-3) appears in this week's rankings at number 10.

The GLIAC has two quarterbacks that rank in the top-five nationally in Division II for passing efficiency. Grand Valley State junior signal-caller Brad Iciek leads the nation with an efficiency rating of 207.11. Ashland University junior, Billy Cundiff, is currently ranked fifth in NCAA Division II with a rating of 177.25.

Grand Valley State senior DT Dan Skuta is now ranked #1 in Laker history for all-time sacks. Following his one sack last week at Northern Michigan, Skuta now has 31.5 career sacks, and passed former Laker All-American Mike McFadden's mark of 31.0 sacks. Skuta has helped lead the Lakers to their fourth consecutive GLIAC title this season.

----- GLIAC Football Game Previews -----

#1 Grand Valley State (9-0, 9-0 GLIAC)
at #25 Wayne State (8-2, 7-2 GLIAC)
November 8 -- Noon
Detroit, Mich. / Adams Field (6,000)

The Series: Grand Valley leads the series, 25-6. The Lakers won in Allendale last year, 41-10.

Grand Valley State: Grand Valley State has claimed its fourth straight outright GLIAC title...Senior DT Dan Skuta (Flint, Mich.) became the all-time sack lead at GVSU with his one QB sack at Northern Michigan. Skuta (31.5) passed former All-American Mike McFadden's total of 31.0...Junior QB Brad Iciek (Grandville, Mich.) upped his pass efficiency rating to 207.1, tops in the GLIAC and second nationally. Iciek has thrown for 1,878 yards and 28 TDs, with just three interceptions...GVSU features one of the most balanced offensive attacks in DII football, rushing for 2,029 yards and passing for 2,034 yards.

Wayne State: Wayne State is ranked 25th this week by the AFCA, the first time WSU has appeared in the AFCA poll ... the 1976 squad was ranked in the top 20 by the NCAA for five consecutive weeks ... the Warriors have won four straight games for the first time since 1977 (Sept. 10-Oct. 1) ... WSU set a school record with its seventh conference win of the season last week ... Wayne State is currently tied-for-second in the GLIAC, with its best finish in the last 25 years being tied-for-second in 1983 (4-2) ... sophomore Stan Thornton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Withrow) moved into a tie for the league lead with his fifth interception of the season last week ... the Warriors are ranked in the top 10 nationally in kickoff returns (1st), scoring defense (6th) and turnover margin (7th) ... senior Dante Dunn (Lansing, Mich. Waverly) continues to lead the GLIAC in kickoff return average (30.71), while ranking fifth nationally ... junior Joique Bell (Benton harbor, Mich.) needs 119 yards of total offense to move into second place on the WSU all-time list ... Ed Skowneski (1972-75) is currently second with 4,790 yards ... Bell needs 256 GLIAC all-purpose yards to move ahead of Charles Davis (SVSU, 1993-96) for second place.

Findlay (2-8, 1-8 GLIAC)
at Ashland (7-3, 7-2 GLIAC)
November 8 -- 1 pm
Ashland, Ohio / Community Stadium (6,000)

The Series: Ashland leads the series, 20-14-4. A year ago in Findlay, Ashland was a 34-10 winner.

Findlay: The University of Findlay football team (2-8, 1-8) will be on the road for their final game of the 2008 season on Saturday, November 8 against 24th ranked Ashland University (7-3, 7-2). The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest is scheduled to kick-off at 1:00 p.m. in Ashland, Ohio...The Oilers are coming off of a 17-9 loss against Saginaw Valley State last Saturday at Donnell Stadium. Individually, junior quarterback Anthony Lanzara threw for a career-high 241 yards, completing 22-of-49 passes. Lanzara's 49 passes broke the school record held by Bryan Hieber who hurled 46 during a game against Hillsdale College during the 2000 season. The 49 pass attempts in the game also broke the school record of 46 set by Hieber and the Oilers in the same game.

Ashland: AU is ranked fourth in Super Region 3 and with a win, should claim one of the six postseason spots in the region. If that happens, the Eagles would be making back-to-back trips to the postseason for the first time in school history...the Eagles are ranked 19th in the country by d2football.com and 24th by the AFCA...junior quarterback Billy Cundiff (Uniontown, OH/Connecticut) threw four touchdown passes in last week's victory at Indianapolis. Cundiff is third in the country in total passing yards (3,244), fourth in passing yards per game (324.4), fifth in pass efficiency (177.3), sixth in total offense (350.7 ypg.) and 10th in completions per game (23.10). Since the start of last season, Cundiff has thrown 47 touchdown passes and just 10 interceptions...junior Nick Bellanco (Wooster, OH) is 163 yards shy of the school, single-season record for receiving yards (1,131, Chris Harkness, 1987). Bellanco has 58 catches, the school single-season record is 72, set by Michael Hull in 2002...AU has put together 21 scoring drives that have consumed two minutes or less.

Saginaw Valley State (6-3, 6-3 GLIAC)
at Ferris State (6-4, 5-4 GLIAC)
November 8 -- Noon
Big Rapids, Mich. / Top Taggart Field (6,200)

The Series: The Eagles lead the series, 17-10. The teams last met in 2005, with Ashland winning at home, 20-3.

Saginaw Valley State: Saginaw Valley State is looking to build on wins the last two week's over Michigan Tech and Finlday. SVSU ranks sixth in scoring defense (23.3), third in pass defense (115.0) and third in total defense (324.9). Junior linebacker John Jacobs (Prudenville, Mich./ Midland Dow) currently ranks first nationally and first in the GLIAC in tackles (13.11), while teammate Mike LeVand (Grandville, Mich.) is 18th in the GLIAC with 7.2 tackles per contest. Jacobs moved past defensive line coach Neil Baumgartner into 15th on the career tackles list at SVSU with 260 and is just 22 tackles shy of cracking the top ten. Cardinal place kicker Jeremy Burr ranks 23rd nationally and is third in the GLIAC with 1.00 field goal per contest. The Cardinals rank sixth in the GLIAC in total offense (362.8), fifth in passing (222.3), ninth in rushing (140.4) and fifth in scoring (26.2) through eight games this season.

Ferris State: Ferris State is currently 6-4 this season and 5-4 in the GLIAC after Saturday's 34-14 loss at Hillsdale...The Bulldogs are 16-8-0 (.667) in regular-season finale contests dating back to 1985, which includes a 11-7-0 (.611) mark since 1990. FSU had dropped its previous four season finales prior to back-to-back wins over Wayne State to close the last two years (2006-07)...Ferris senior All-America defensive tackle Jake Visser (Coopersville) notched his first career touchdown with a 34-yard interception return at Hillsdale. Senior cornerback Terrell Heggins (Lansing/Everett) came on a corner blitz and hit Charger quarterback Troy Weatherhead as he tried to throw a second quarter pass, which was picked off by Visser who held off a couple of Charger players and rambled 34-yards into the endzone for the Bulldogs' first score of the day.

Michigan Tech (7-3, 6-3 GLIAC)
at Northwood (2-7, 2-7 GLIAC)
November 8 -- Noon
Midland, Mich. / Hantz Stadium (3,000)

The Series: Northwood holds a 20-14 advantage in the all-time series. Tech won last year at Northwood, 43-41.

Michigan Tech: Michigan Tech seeks its eighth win of the season at Northwood Saturday (Nov. 8). The Huskies have won eight or more games just twice since 1976 (9-2 in 2004 and 9-1 in 1992) and six times in the program's 85 years of history. Tech has already clinched a winning season - its fifth straight and 41st overall since the sports inception in 1920...Michigan Tech is ranked No. 8 in this week's NCAA Super Regional 3 rankings. The Huskies are still in the hunt for a playoff spot heading into the last week of the regular season. Six teams from each of the nation's four regions will make up the 2008 NCAA Playoff field.

Northwood: The series dates back to the 1965 season, when Northwood posted a 20-13 victory in Houghton. The series has been close over the past eight years, as each team has registered four victories. Northwood's record at home against the Huskies is 11-6 all-time, but MTU has won four of the last fi ve meetings in Midland. Northwood's last home win came in 2005, a 24-21 victory...The Northwood University football team dropped a 42-21 contest to Wayne State Saturday afternoon (November 1). The Timberwolves are now 2-7 overall and in the GLIAC. Wayne State improves to 8-2 overall, 7-2 in the GLIAC...Senior fullback Torris Childs has been a productive player for the Timberwolves for his entire career, and his high level of play may allow him to break Northwood's program record for career rushing yards. He became the fourth player in school history to reach the 3,000 yard mark against Ferris State. Now with 3,197 yards rushing in his career, Childs needs 63 yards against Michigan Tech to break Jayce Smith's record of 3,259 yards. Childs also moved past former teammate Kyle Kolbe into ninth place in the GLIAC's career rushing list in conference games only (3,121 yards).

Northern Michigan (2-7, 2-7 GLIAC)
at Indianapolis (4-6, 3-6 GLIAC)
November 8 -- 2:30 pm
Indianapolis, Ind. / Key Stadium (5,500)

The Series: Northern leads the series, 11-5. Last year, the Greyhounds beat Northern at home, 24-22.

Northern Michigan: Mark Bossuah who has not played in a couple of games this season still leads the ‘Cats on the ground with 660 yards on 124 car ries. Fred Wells who has opened up at running back the past two games is now second on the team with 142 yards on 30 carries. Bossuah and Wells have a combined seven of the 12 rushing TDs. Carter Kopach directs the Wildcat attack as he has 1,079 yards passing on 110-196-9 with eight passing touchdowns. Kopach has rushed for four touchdowns. Zach Nichols leads the ‘Cats in the receiving department with 43 catches for 427 yards. Dan Elmore has a team-high five receiving touchdowns...Nathan Yelk has a team-leading 79 total tackles (55 solo and 24 assisted). Yelk also has five tackles-for-loss (-21 yards) and a sack. Scott Avery leads the team with six tackles-for-loss (-43 yards) and three sacks (-29 yards).

Indianapolis: Senior Craig Jenkins (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) broke his own school record for rushing yards in a season when he surpassed his 1,136-yard mark from 2006. He currently sits just two yards shy of 3,000 for his career and can move into second place on UIndy's career rushing list with 81 rushing yards this Saturday ... UIndy is one of the top rushing teams in the GLIAC, racking-up 227.6 yards per game along the ground. That average ranks 10th in all of Division II heading into the final week of the season. Saturday's opponent, Northern Michigan, is second to last in the GLIAC in rushing yards allowed per game (187.6).

Hillsdale (6-4, 5-4 GLIAC)
at Tiffin (1-9, 1-8 GLIAC)
November 8 -- 1 pm
Tiffin, Ohio / Frost-Kalnow Stadium (4,500)

The Series: The series is tied, 2-2, with both teams winning one home and one away contest.

 
Hillsdale: Hillsdale College Chargers will bring the 2008 season to a close against new GLIAC opponent, Tiffi n University. Th e Chargers are coming off an all around victory over the Ferris State Bulldogs last week with impressive showings from both the off ense and defense. Th e Dragons have found the transition to the GLIAC to be a tough one as they have picked up only one win in their first season as members of the perennially tough conference...This will be only the fifth match up between the Chargers and the Dragons but the first with GLIAC implications. Over the five games, the results have varied with the Chargers picking up one win at home and one on the road, but also have also lost once at home and once on the road.

Tiffin: Matt Root leads the GLIAC in many offensive categories for his passing attack. Root leads the GLIAC in total offense plays, 532 plays, passing attempts, 454 attempts and pass completions, 287 completions. Root ranks 3rd in the GLIAC in total offense touchdowns with 23 and ranks 2nd in total offensive yards, 2465 yards...Dyshaun Edwards ranks 1st in the GLIAC and 2nd nationally in receptions per game with 7.90. Dyshaun ranks 3rd in the GLIAC and 18th in the nation in receiving yards per game with 96.2. He also ranks 2nd in the GLIAC and 4th in the nation in all purpose yards with 172.90 yards per game. Dyshaun leads the GLIAC in total receptions with 79, 2nd in total reception yards with 962 and ranks 2nd in the CLIAC in reception touchdowns with 9...The Dragon Defense is led by senior linebacker Parris Burt who ranks 6th in the nation and 3rd in the GLIAC in tackles per game with 11.50 and ranks 3rd in the GLIAC in total tackles with 115 total tackles.