August 28, 2004
Football
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Northwood Topples Cardinals in 30th Axe Bowl

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University Cardinals dropped their season opener to the Northwood University Timberwolves by a score of 24-21 on Saturday (August 28). Northwood carried a 17-14 lead into the locker room at halftime and matched the Cardinals with a touchdown in the second half to preserve the victory.
     Northwood back Chris Gruse opened the scoring with a 43-yard run with 7:21 remaining in the first quarter. The Cardinals bounced back with a Marcus Ewing (Lewiston, Mich./Johannesburg-Lewiston) 1-yard touchdown run to cap a 7-play, 75-yard drive that took only 1:56 off of the clock. Less than five minutes later Ewing struck paydirt again on a 2-yard run to put the Cardinals up 14-7 going into the second quarter.
Northwood scored the only points of the second quarter on a safety and a 3-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Kolbe to Yared Yearby. The safety was a result of an errant long snap over the head of SVSU punter Dustin Esslin (Pickford, Mich.), who was forced to down the ball in his own endzone.
     The third quarter was rather uneventful, as both teams failed to score. However, the Cardinals scored just six seconds into the fourth quarter on a 15-yard pass from senior quarterback Mark Radlinski (Grand Rapids, Mich./Catholic Central) to senior receiver Mike Crawford (Lake Orion, Mich.) to give SVSU a 21-17 lead. The two teams then traded possessions before Northwood grinded out a 12-play, 73-yard drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Mookie Johnson. Saginaw Valley could not answer on any of their ensuing possessions and Northwood ran the last minute off of the clock to close out their first Axe Bowl victory since the 2000 season.
     Northwood’s offense out-gained the Cardinals by a count of 336 yards of total offense to 236 yards, including a 277-yard advantage in the rushing column. SVSU managed 253 yards through the air, while holding Northwood to just 76 passing yards, but simply could not overcome the difference in rushing yards. The rushing total allowed Northwood to hold a 33:16 to 26:44 advantage in time of possession, as well.
The Cardinals were led in defeat by Radlinski, who completed 19-of-36 passes for 253 yards and a touchdown. Crawford proved to be Radlinski’s favorite target, hauling in five passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. Marcus Ewing netted 50 yards rushing on 19 carries, including the two touchdown runs.
     Johnson pounded out 117 yards on 29 carries, including a touchdown, to lead the Timberwolves. Kolbe carried 16 times for 49 yards, while completing half of his 16 pass attempts for 76 yards and a touchdown.
     The loss drops the Cardinals to 0-1 (0-1 GLIAC), while Northwood jumps to an early lead in the GLIAC with a 1-0 record. The Cardinals have two weeks to prepare for Wayne State University. Game time is set for 12:00p.m. on Saturday, September 11 in Detroit, Mich.

Contact: Jeff Bacholzky (989) 964-4053

# #SVSU # #