September 10, 2005
Football
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tough Defense Propels SVSU to a 29-3 win over Wayne State

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State Cardinals improved to 2-0 with a 29-3 win over visiting Wayne State on Saturday. The Cardinal defense played well for the second straight game limiting the Warriors to 231 yards of total offense and 3.6 yards per play. Wayne State had 113 yards of offense in the first half and 118 yards in the second half. The Warriors were 2-of-15 on third down conversions and rushed for 85 yards on 31 carries. Conversely, the Saginaw Valley offense was firing with 512 total yards, including 183 rushing yards. The Cards ran 46 times as senior Logan Barnhart (Haslett, Mich.) carried 13 times for 73 yards. Sophomore quarterback Chris Dougherty (Grinnell, Iowa) led the offense with 319 passing yards and three scores. He found Stan Spencer (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) on a 43-yard TD in the first quarter to give SVSU a 6-0 lead. Later, he found Rick Cottengim (Elk Grove, Calif.) with 57 seconds left in the first half on a 22-yard screen pass for a TD giving SVSU a 13-3 halftime lead.
    Dougherty completed his touchdown throws in the third quarter as he found freshman Tony Awrey (Saginaw, Mich./Nouvel Catholic) for his first collegiate catch for a 16-yard TD with 58 seconds left in the quarter to give SVSU a 23-3 lead. Sophomore Bobby Belmonte (East Grand Rapids, Mich./Catholic Central) kicked three field goals in the second half to round out the scoring. He connected from 25, 27, and 26 yards respectively as SVSU drives stalled inside the end zone.
    Nine different Cards caught a pass including Cottengim's team-leading eight catches for 123 yards. Junior Bob Awrey (Freeland, Mich.) had six catches for 56 yards. On the defensive side, senior linebacker John DiGiorgio (Shelby Twp., Mich./Eisenhower) had a game-high 15 tackles, a sack and one forced fumble.

Stats

Contact: Ryan Thompson (989) 964-4053

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