Nov. 20, 2002

Allendale, Mich. - Number one ranked Grand Valley State (10-0) will host 10th-ranked C.W. Post (11-0) in a NCAA Divison II Northeast Region first-round game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Lubbers Stadium. Grand Valley State is 10-0 overall and ranked number one in the latest AFCA coaches poll with all 27 first place votes and 675 points. Grand Valley State concluded the regular season last week with its 26th straight regular season win. The Lakers have also won 24 straight GLIAC games and 19 consecutive home games. GVSU is coming off a 63-19 victory over 19th-ranked Findlay last Saturday. With the win GVSU claimed its second straight GLIAC title. C.W. Post enters the game with a perfect 11-0 record and the 2002 Northeast 10 Conference Championship.

Media Coverage: Saturday's game vs. C.W. Post 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 game will also be televised live on the Internet on Grand Valley's web site, www.gvsu.edu. The broadcast will mark the first ever webcast for a Division II football game.

The Series: This will be the first-ever meeting between GVSU and C.W. Post.

The Coaches: Grand Valley State * Brian Kelly (Assumption, 1983) * 100-34-2/.743 (12th year); C. W. Post * Bryan Collins (St. John's, 1987) * 46-8/.852 (5th season).

GVSU head coach Brian Kelly ranks third (.743) among all active Division II head coaches in winning percentage...Kelly notched the 100th win of his career last Saturday vs. Findlay. Under Kelly, GVSU is 54-11-1 at home, 45-21-1 on the road, 1-1 at houseman field and 0-1 at a neutral site.

GVSU Playoff History: This is Grand Valley State's sixth NCAA Division II playoff appearance. The Lakers are 3-6 all-time in the DII Playoffs and 1-1 in the NAIA.

NAIA Division I Playoff

1978 - at GVSU 24, at UW-LaCrosse 14;
Elon (NC) 14, at GVSU 7
NCAA DII Playoffs

1989 - Indiana (Pa.) 34, at GVSU 24
1990 - East Texas State 20, at GVSU 14
1991 - at East Texas State 36, GVSU 15
1994 - at Indiana (Pa.) 35, GVSU 27
1998 - at Slippery Rock 37, GVSU 14
2001 - at GVSU 42, Bloomsburg 14
2001 - at GVSU 33, Saginaw Valley 30
2001 - at GVSU 34, Catawba 16
2001 - North Dakota 17, GVSU 14

Rankings: The Lakers received all 27 first place votes in the latest AFCA poll. GVSU has now been ranked number one for 11 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 35-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 63-19 victory. The Lakers scored on seven straight possessions in the first half. Curt Anes completed 17-of-20 passes for 252 yards and five TDs in just over two quarters of action. Reggie Spearmon rushed for 156 yards and one TD on 20 carries. David Kircus caught five passes for 103 yards and four TDs, while Terranc Banks hauled in eight passes for 105 yards and one TD.

* Grand Valley State won its school record 26th straight regular season game last Saturday vs. Findlay (63-19). The Lakers have also won 24 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 have a 19-game home winning streak at Lubbers Stadium.

* Harlon Hill Candidate Curt Anes continues to move atop several career school, GLIAC, and NCAA statistical categories. Curt has thrown for 225 yards or more in 19 of his last 20 games...Anes was named GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season after completing 17-of-20 passes for 252 yards and five TDs in two quarters and one drive. Anes has thrown three or more TD passes in 15-of-his-last-20 regular season games, including four or more in 11 of 20 games...The GLIAC's all-time career leader in TD passes thrown with 91 and total offense with 9,746 yards...Anes is the all-time leader in GLIAC passing yards (8,600)...Curt has thrown just nine interceptions in his last 751 attempts (28 games) and has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 11-1 in his last 20 games...In his career, Anes has completed 658-of-1069 attempts for 9,449 yards and 100 TDs...Curt ranks 4th all-time in Division II in TD passes (100), 4th in total offense (10,692) 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 195-297 passes for 2,560 yards and 33 TDs this season...Anes was named GLIAC Player of the Week for the second time 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 completed 18-of-24 passes for 226 yards and two TDs in just over two quarters of action 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 (348) and Grand Valley State (390) football history, ranks 14th all-time in Division II history (390)...David also increased his career receptions mark to 193...David is the all-time leader in NCAA Division II touchdown receptions with 64 and the all-time leader in GLIAC action with 59...Kircus, who has caught 51 touchdown passes in his last 20 regular season games (2.5 pg), is averaging a TD catch every 2.1 receptions this season and every 3.0 for his career...Kircus tied the NCAA Division II record for consecutive games with a TD catch (20) vs. Findlay. The record was previously held by Brian Penecale of West Chester from 1993-95...The 20-game streak is the longest active streak among college football players...Dave has two or more TD catches in 18-of-his-last-20 regular season games..In addition, Kircus has caught a pass in 43 straight games...David is the all-time leading scorer in the GLIAC (348) and third in all-time receiving yards (3,333)...Kircus has 193 catches for 3,598yards in his career...Kircus' 23 TD catches this season is the third-best single-season total in Division II history. Kircus set the DII record last season with 28 TD receptions.

*Senior running backs Reggie Spearmon and Brent Lesniak are moving up the list of all-time rushers in GLIAC history. Spearmon ranks fifth with 2,988 yards in GLIAC games, while Lesniak ranks 10th all-time with 2,494 yards. Spearmon ranks second in all-time rushing yards at GVSU with 3,112, while Lesniak ranks third in Laker annals with 2,741 yards.

* Senior tight end Phil Condon, who is fifth on the squad in receptions (18) and yards (339) this season, played in one series vs. Findlay...Condon has 75 catches for 1,119 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 set the single-season record for receptions (64). The previous mark was 63 by Jason Trice in 1998...Banks leads GVSU in catches (64) and yards (824) this season...Banks has four 100-yard receiving games in 2002...Terrance recorded single-game, career-highs in receptions (10), yards (107) yards and TDs (2) vs. Hillsdale...Caught eight passes for 105 yards and a TD vs. Findlay...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 became the 22nd player in GVSU history to break the 1,000-yard plateau in career receiving...Terrance ranks 10th in career receptions with 98 for 1,254 yards and 13 TDs.

* Grand Valley State has had two one-hundred yard receivers in the same game twice this season. David Kircus (103) and Terrance Banks (105) both broke the mark last week vs. Findlay...Phil Condon (154) and Terrance Banks (102) accomplished the feat earlier this season 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 10 times this season.

* RB Reggie Spearmon leads GVSU in rushing with 1,145 yards and 13 TDs on 195 carries...Spearmon's 1,145 yards is the third-best single-season total in GVSU history...Spearmon ranks second in GVSU football history with 3,112 rushing yards...Spearmon notched his sixth 100-yard rushing game of the season and fourth straight last week vs. Findlay with 156 yards and one TD on 20 carries...Reggie rushed for 120 yards and three TDs on 25 carries vs. Indianapolis...Spearmon toted the ball 17 times for 136 yards and a career-high three TDs at Mercyhurst...Tallied 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 on the team in receptions with 23 for 204 yards and one TD...Ranks third in all-time rushing TDs with 32.

* RB Brent Lesniak ranks second on the team in rushing yards with 549...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 (4,464) and third in all-time rushing (2,741) at Grand Valley State...Lesniak has 20 catches for 174 yards and one TD.

* Freshman running back Brandon Langston ranks third on the squad in rushing with 443 yards on 56 carries...Langston is averaging a team-best 7.9 yards per carry...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...He has six receptions for 60 yards.

* The Grand Valley State defense has notched 80 tackles for loss (-327) and 34 QB sacks (-202) in nine games this season.

* Grand Valley State ranks 31st in the country in rushing defense, yielding 110.5 yards per game...The Lakers have limited four opponents to 100 rushing yards or less...Six of 10 Laker opponents have passed for 200 yards or less, including Indianapolis' 67 yards passing.

* Sophomore defensive tackle Keyonta Marshall ranks fourth on the team in tackles (56), but first in tackles for loss (14-62) 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.

* Junior FS Scott Mackey recorded the longest fumble return for a TD in GVSU football history vs. Findlay (95 yds). Mackey now has the longest punt return for a TD (Mercyhurst, 87 yards) and the longest fumble return for a TD in GV history. Mackey, who has 10 career interceptions, returned an interception for a TD last year in the semifinals vs. Catawba.

* Grand Valley State yielded its first points in the first quarter this season vs. Mercyhurst. The Lakers have a 122-7 advantage in the first quarter, a 144-79 advantage in the second and a 107-32 margin in the third quarter...The Lakers have scored in every quarter since the first quarter of the UC Davis game...GVSU outscored its opponents 455-166 this season.

* GVSU is converting 49.0 percent of its third downs (60-122) this season. In comparison, Laker opponents are converting 28 percent (44-156) on third down.

* Grand Valley State has converted 50 of 55 scoring opportunities (90.9%) inside the 20-yard line this season with 44 TDs. GVSU's opponents are just 22 of-36 (61.1%).

* 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 three games, the Lakers have crossed the goal line 19 times in the last seven games.

* Booming Attendance Grand Valley State set a GLIAC record for single-season attendance 50,838. GVSU set the GLIAC games only record this season with 38,477. GVSU is averaging 8,473 in all games and 7,695 in GLIAC games.

* Grand Valley State is 78-0 when scoring 40 points or more and 143-6 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 215 yards rushing and 250 yards passing per game.