Lakers drown DSU
Published 6:00 am Monday, December 11, 2006
ALLENDALE, Mich. (AP) — Cullen Finnerty passed for 365 yards and six touchdowns to lead defending national champion Grand Valley State to a 49-30 victory over Delta State on Sunday night in the NCAA Division II semifinals.
In a rematch of the 2005 championship, Grand Valley (14-0) will face Northwest Missouri State — a 33-3 winner over Bloomsburg — in the title game Saturday in Florence, Ala., Last year, Grand Valley beat Northwest Missouri 21-17.
The Lakers have won 27 straight games, the longest streak in any NCAA division. Grand Valley will appear in the national championship game for the fifth time in six years.
The Lakers won titles in 2002, 2003 and 2005.
Finnerty threw two TD passes each to Terry Mitchell and Antione Trent in the first half to give Grand Valley a 28-14 lead. Finnerty also threw scoring passes to Blake Smolen in the third quarter and Eric Fowler in the fourth.
Astin Martin added a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the Lakers.
Delta State’s Scott Eyster threw touchdown passes of 7 and 65 yards to Eric Marshall and 7 yards to Robert Davis. Chad Schroeder recovered a blocked punt in the Grand Valley end zone for a TD and Cody Hallmark blocked a punt for a safety for the Statesmen (12-3).
Eyster threw for 324 yards.