BIG RAPIDS – Ferris State University coach Tony Annese described the rivalry as a war. So it wasn’t surprising there was a lot of pushing, shoving and jawing between Ferris State and Grand Valley State players as the scoreboard hit zero.
Heated rivalries will do that.
Ferris State proved why it is the No. 1 Division II football team in the nation after beating rival No. 18 Grand Valley 38-31 in front of 10,089 fans at Top Taggart Field on Saturday, Oct. 25.
“What a war, huh?” Annese said. “Just so impressed with how Grand Valley came here and played. They were relentless. Their guys played hard. Our guys played hard. It was just a hard-fought game.”
Ferris State (8-0) got four touchdowns by junior Taariik Brett, a junior from Jonesboro, Ga. He had touchdown catches of 28 and 5 yards and rushing scores of 41 and 24 yards.
“It felt great,” Brett said. “All week, I was telling my teammates ‘After GV comin’ off that loss to Saginaw, they were treating it like a must-win.’ So it felt good for me to go out there and do what I need to do to help the team win today.”
Ferris State is the reigning Division II National Champions. The Bulldogs have won the national title in three of the past four seasons.
“This is big-time Division II college football,” Annese said. “There’s two programs that are regularly Top 10 (in the rankings). What a blessing for West Michigan.”
It was another frustrating loss for the Lakers (4-3), who have lost back-to-back games.
“It comes down to red-zone turnovers,” GVSU coach Scott Wooster said. “We had an interception, a fumble and turned the ball over on downs (in the red zone).”
The host Bulldogs, who didn’t have a turnover, led 28-24 at halftime.
Brett caught two touchdown passes from freshman quarterback Wyatt Bower for a 14-0 lead. Grand Valley tight end Evan Furtney caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from freshman QB Andrew Schuster to cut the lead to 14-7.
“I thought Andrew played great,” Annese said. “He’s a red-shirt freshman. For two redshirt freshmen – Wyatt Bower and Andrew Schuster – to be in that situation, under that kind of pressure … for our brand of football, this is high pressure.”
Grand Valley got touchdown receptions from Evan Furtney, Kellen Reed, Sean Byrd and Lynn Wyche-El. Kicker Mathew Bacik had a career-long 54-yard field goal with 1:21 remaining in the first half. Back-up QB Brady Drogosh led GVSU in rushing with 12 carries for 69 yards. He also threw a touchdown pass. Schuster was 23-of-39 for 347 yards and three touchdowns.
Ferris State got the four touchdowns from Brett, a 10-yard TD run from Bower and a 38-yard field goal from Eddie Jewett.
“Being from Miami, we don’t really know about West Michigan football,” Ferris State defensive back Justin Payoute said. “But coming up here … I feel like this is really big for Division II football. This is why we came to Ferris State. To play in games like this.”
Big game for tight end from Zeeland
Annese knows talent. So when he says he’s got an NFL player on his roster, people listen.
“One of the guys that was an unsung hero for us was Carson Gulker,” he said. “He made so many plays. We moved him to that position thinking ‘OK, he’s probably an NFL-calibre athlete.’ If NFL organizations don’t know about this player, they should start. He’s a legit athlete.”
Gulker, a redshirt junior, is a graduate of Zeeland West High School. He was a quarterback for Ferris State his first three seasons, including a record-setting freshman year where he had 31 rushing touchdowns.
But an injury last season has changed his football future. He’s now a tight end.
“He’s been a great quarterback for us,” Annese said. “He had that injury last year. And we had Trinidad (Chambliss) last year. So I was talking’ to him. I said ‘Carson, why don’t we move you to tight end?’ He said ‘Coach, I’ll do anything to help the team.’”
On Saturday, the 6-foot-4, 240-pounder had a team-best six catches for 85 yards. He also ran the ball three times for 28 yards.
“He threw a pass today, he ran an option play today,” Annese said. “So we still use his skillset as a quarterback. But it just gives us another weapon.”
Is he really a potential pro?
“I told him, ‘you have a much better shot of making it to the NFL if you move to tight end,’” Annese said. “He’s as athletic as any tight end around. He’s got an NFL chance. He’s 240 pounds and he’s learning how to block. He’s a real weapon.”
As a quarterback, Gulker has 1,495 yards passing in his four-year career. But it is his running that made him stand out. In 36 career games, he’s averaged five yards per carry for 1,755 career yards and a stunning 45 rushing touchdowns.
This season as a tight end, he’s caught 17 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Defending champion Ferris State holds off GVSU in rivalry classic: ‘What a war, huh?’
Reporting by Lenny Padilla / The Holland Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
