Nov. 15, 2002

Allendale, Mich. - Number one ranked Grand Valley State (9-0, 8-0) will host 19th-ranked Findlay (9-1, 8-1) in the GLIAC Championship game Saturday at Lubbers Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Grand Valley State is 9-0 overall and 8-0 in GLIAC action. The Lakers are ranked number one in the latest AFCA coaches poll with 26 first place votes and 674 points. Grand Valley State has won a school record 25 straight regular season games and 23 straight GLIAC games. GVSU is coming off a 50-13 victory over Indianapolis last Saturday. Findlay enters the game 9-1 overall and 8-1 in GLIAC action. Findlay is coming off a 35-14 win at Hillsdale last Saturday.

Radio: Saturday's game vs. Findlay will be broadcast live on the radio by WMFN AM 640 beginning at 12:45 pm. Dick Nelson will handle the play-by-play, while former Laker Dan McLean handles the color. The Brian Kelly Radio Show can be heard on WMFN AM 640 every Friday night at 6 p.m., with a replay on Saturday at11:45 a.m.

The Series: Grand Valley State leads the all-time series with Findlay by a 4-2 margin. GVSU and UF have not met since 1999. Findlay won the first two meetings (1971-72), while the Lakers have won the last four. Prior to 1998, GVSU and UF had not met since a 41-7 Laker victory in 1974. GVSU handed Findlay its first-ever GLIAC loss in 1998 by a 50-7 score. The Lakers won the last meeting at Findlay in 1999 by a 37-9 score.

The Coaches: Grand Valley State * Brian Kelly (Assumption, 1983) * 99-34-2/.740 (12th year); Indianapolis * Dan Simrell * 14-17/.452 (3rd year).

GVSU head coach Brian Kelly ranks fifth (.740) among all active Division II head coaches in winning percentage...Kelly is seeking the 100th victory of his career Saturday vs. Findlay. Kelly is 53-11-1 at home, 45-21-1 on the road, 1-1 at houseman field and 0-1 at a neutral site.

Rankings: The Lakers received all 26 first place votes in the latest AFCA poll. GVSU has now been ranked number one for nine straight weeks. The Lakers are also ranked number one by D2Football.com, Don Hansen's Football Gazette and the Dopke rankings.

Last Game: Grand Valley State jumped out to a 10-0 lead after one quarter and built a 29-10 half time lead en route to a 50-13 GLIAC victory. QB Curt Anes completed 23-35 passes for 314 yards and three TDs. WR David Kircus hauled in a season-high eight passes for 168 yards and three TDs, while RB Reggie Spearmon rushed for 120 yards and three TDs on 25 carries.

* Grand Valley State won its school record 25th straight regular season game last Saturday vs. Indianapolis (50-13). The Lakers have also won 23 consecutive GLIAC games. The streak, which began on Oct. 14, 2000 with a 56-21 win over Indianapolis, is the third longest in college football behind Miami (Fla.) and Division III Mount Union...The Lakers also have an 18-game home winning streak at Lubbers Stadium.

* Harlon Hill Candidate Curt Anes continues to move to the top of several career school, GLIAC, and NCAA statistical categories. Curt has thrown for 225 yards or more in 17 of his last 18 games...Anes was named GLIAC Player of the Week after completing 23-of-35 passes for 314 yards and three TDs vs. Indianapolis. He also rushed for a season-high 40 yards and tallied 354 yards of total offense...Anes has thrown three or more TD passes in 14-of-his-last-19 regular season games, including four or more in 10 of 19 games...The GLIAC's all-time career leader in TD passes thrown with 86 and total offense with 9,480 yards...Anes is the all-time leader in GLIAC passing yards (8,348)...Curt has thrown just nine interceptions in his last 731 attempts (27 games) and has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 10-1 in his last 19 games...In his career, Anes has completed 641-of-1049 attempts for 9,197 yards and 95 TDs...Curt ranks 6th all-time in Division II in TD passes (95), 6th in total offense (10,426) and 20th in career yards per game (260.7)...Anes is just the 6th player in Division II history to surpass the 10,000-yard mark in total offense...Curt has completed 178-277 passes for 2,308 yards and 28 TDs this season...Anes completed 18-of-24 passes for 226 yards and two TDs in just over two quarters of action last Saturday at Mercyhurst...Curt completed a season-high 24 passes in 33 attempts for 248 yards and two TDs vs. Northwood...Completed 20-33 passes for 245 yards and two TDs at then third-ranked Saginaw Valley State...Anes completed 14-25 passes for 196 yards and three TDs vs. Northern Michigan...Curt completed 19-32 passes for 278 yards and four TDs at Michigan Tech...Completed 20-31 passes for 243 yards and five TDs vs. Hillsdale...Completed 21-33 passes for 336 yards and five TDs vs. Wayne State...Named GLIAC Player of the Week following Wayne State game...Completed 19-31 passes for 224 yards and two TDs vs. UC-Davis.

* All-American candidate David Kircus, the all-time leading scorer in GLIAC history with 318 points, is just three points shy of the school scoring record held by Eric Lynch (362)...Kircus has scored 360 points in his career at GVSU...David also increased his career receptions mark to 188...Kircus is the all-time leader in NCAA Division II touchdown receptions with 60 and the all-time leader in GLIAC action with 55...Kircus, who has caught 47 touchdown passes in his last 19 regular season games (2.5 pg), is averaging a TD catch every 2.2 receptions this season and every 3.1 for his career...Kircus has caught a TD pass in 19 straight games, the longest active streak among college football players...Dave has two or more TD catches in 17-of-his-last-19 regular season games..In addition, Kircus has caught a pass in 42 straight games...David is the all-time leading scorer in the GLIAC (318) and third in all-time receiving yards (3,230)...Kircus has 188 catches for 3,495yards in his career.

*Senior running backs Reggie Spearmon and Brent Lesniak are moving up the list of all-time rushers in GLIAC history. Spearmon ranks ninth with 2,834 yards in GLIAC games, while Lesniak ranks 10th all-time with 2,442 yards. Spearmon ranks third in all-time rushing yards at GVSU with 2,956, while Lesniak ranks fifth in Laker annals with 2,689 yards.

* Senior tight end Phil Condon, who is third on the squad in receptions (17) and yards (324) this season, will miss his second straight game with an ankle sprain...Condon has 74 catches for 1,104 yards in his career...Condon was the 21st player in Laker football history to go over the 1,000-yard plateau...Condon caught a career-high seven passes for a career-high 154 yards at Wayne State...Condon, who injured his ankle in the first quarter vs. Northwood, had his streak of 27 straight games with a reception snapped.

* WR Terrance Banks leads Grand Valley State in catches (56) and yards (719) this season...Banks has three 100-yard receiving games in 2002...Terrance recorded single-game, career-highs in receptions (10), yards (107) yards and TDs (2) vs. Hillsdale...Notched nine catches for 106 yards at third-ranked SVSU...Banks hauled in five passes for a 102 yards and one TD at Wayne State...Banks is the 22nd player in GVSU history to break the 1,000-yard plateau in career receiving...Terrance ranks 11th in career receptions with 90 for 1,149 yards and 12 TDs.

* Phil Condon and Terrance Banks became the sixth receiving duo in Laker football history to go over the 100-yard receiving mark in the same game. Condon caught seven passes for 154 yards, while Banks hauled in five passes for 102 yards at Wayne State. * Grand Valley State has had two one hundred yard rushers in the same game twice this season. Reggie Spearmon (152) and Brent Lesniak (137) accomplished the feat at Michigan Tech, while Spearmon (136) and Brandon Langston (108) reached the mark at Mercyhurst. Three running backs have notched at least 100 rushing yards nine times this season.

* RB Reggie Spearmon leads GVSU in rushing with 989 yards and 13 TDs on 175 carries...Spearmon notched his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season and third straight vs. Indianapolis with 120 yards and three TDs on 25 carries...Spearmon toted the ball 17 times for 136 yards and a career-high three TDs at Mercyhurst...Spearmon rushed for 163 yards on 30 carries vs. Northwood...Reggie played just three downs at SVSU due to a toe injury...Spearmon rushed for 80 yards and two TDs on 15 carries in just over two quarters vs. Northern Michigan. Spearmon also had a 12-yard TD reception...Reggie had back-to-back 100-yard rushing games earlier this season. He tallied a 28-carry, 152-yard, two TD performance at Michigan Tech... Spearmon rushed for 165 yards and one TD on 27 carries vs. Hillsdale...Spearmon ranks third in GVSU football history with 2,956 rushing yards, 201 behind all-time leader Jamie Hosford (3,157)...Spearmon ranks third on the team in receptions with 20 for 184 yards and one TD.

* RB Brent Lesniak ranks second on the team in rushing yards with 467...Brent recorded his second 100-yard rushing game of the season with 123 yards on a career-high 26 carries at third-ranked SVSU...Brent notched a season-high 137 yards on 10 carries at Michigan Tech...Lesniak has nine TD runs that have covered 50 yards or more in his career...Brent ranks first in all-time, all-purpose yards (4,378) and fifth in all-time rushing (2,689) at Grand Valley State...Lesniak is tied with Spearmon for third on the team in receiving with 20 catches for 174 yards and one TD.

* Freshman running back Brandon Langston ranks third on the squad in rushing with 365 yards on 45 carries...Langston is averaging a team-best 8.1 yards per carry...Brandon has notched..Langston toted the ball 11 times for 108 yards and one TD vs. Mercyhurst. Rushed for 149 yards and one TD on 12 carries versus Northern Michigan earlier this season...Langston has TD runs that have covered 72 and 32 yards...Brandon is third on the squad in rushing with 340 yards and two TDs on 40 carries...He has five receptions for 50 yards.

* The Grand Valley State defense has notched 70 tackles for loss (-299) and 32 QB sacks (-192) in nine games this season. Grand Valley State ranks 24th in the country in rushing defense, yielding 99.3 yards per game...GVSU ranks 33rd in the country in total defense (293.2)...The Lakers have limited four opponents to 100 rushing yards or less...Five of nine Laker opponents have passed for 200 yards or less, including Indianapolis' 67 yards passing last week.

* Sophomore defensive tackle Keyonta Marshall ranks fourth on the team in tackles (49), but first in tackles for loss (12-67) and QB sacks (9-51)...Sophomore Lucius Hawkins leads the squad in interceptions (3) and return yards (65)...Sophomore defensive back Joe Ballard has two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Ballard has returned a fumble and an interception for TDs this season...20 different Lakers have recorded a tackle for loss this season and 14 have notched a QB sack.

* Grand Valley State yielded its first points in the first quarter this season vs. Mercyhurst. The Lakers have a 101-7 advantage in the first quarter, a 116-66 advantage in the second and a 100-26 margin in the third quarter...The Lakers have scored in every quarter since the first quarter of the UC Davis game.

* GVSU is converting 48.0 percent of its third downs (53-111) this season. In comparison, Laker opponents are converting 29 percent (41-142) on third down.

* Grand Valley State has converted 43 of 47 scoring opportunities (91.5%) inside the 20-yard line this season with 37 TDs. GVSU's opponents are just 19 of-32 (59.4%).

* GVSU rushed for a season low 39 yards in the season opener vs. UC Davis. Since that game GVSU is averaging 234.1 yards rushing per game. In addition, since rushing for just two TDs in the first two games the Lakers have crossed the goal line 17 times in the last seven games.

* Booming Attendance Grand Valley State set a GLIAC record for single-season attendance after five home games this season. 44,560 fans have watched the Lakers in five home games. GVSU set the GLIAC games only record this season in just four games with a total of 32,199. GVSU is averaging 8,912 in all games and 8,049 in GLIAC action.

* Grand Valley State is 77-0 when scoring 40 points or more and 142-6 when scoring 30 points or more.

Did You Know? Grand Valley State is the only Division II team in the country to be averaging over 200 yards rushing and 250 yards passing.