Box Score  

The Malone University football team opened up its 2012 campaign at home on Saturday afternoon with a 37-14 loss to Saginaw Valley State (MI) University, the squad currently ranked at No. 18 in the most recent American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) NCAA Division II National Poll.

In addition to being the Pioneers' home opener, Saturday's game also marked the first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest of the season for both schools.  The Cardinals, fresh off a come-from-behind, 28-24 win over Valdosta State (GA) University (a team which, at the time, was ranked at No. 8 in the AFCA Division II Preseason Coaches' Poll), showed no signs of a letdown from the big win in the early going of Saturday's match-up, jumping out to a 14-0 advantage less than seven minutes into the first quarter.

SVSU took the opening kickoff and marched 68 yards on 10 plays, grabbing the early lead on running back Tim Hogue's one-yard plunge into the endzone.  Malone began to move the ball towards midfield on its opening drive before the Cardinals quickly re-gained possession by recovering a Pioneer fumble.  The visitors then immediately cashed in on the Malone miscue as on the very next play from scrimmage, Saginaw quarterback Jonathon Jennings hit wide receiver Michael Albrecht on a 29-yard TD toss, making the score 14-0.

The Pioneers managed to recover from the quick scoring strike, pulling to within 14-7 on the first play of the second quarter when quarterback Will Szpor connected with wide receiver Justin McLean on a 22-yard touchdown pass.

SVSU made it 17-7 on kicker Scott Stanford's 23-yard field goal midway through the second period.  The Cardinals then began to take control in the final stages of the first half, scoring 10 points in the final 51 seconds. 

Cardinal wideout Jeff Janis, the reigning GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week, hauled in a 33-yard TD toss from Jennings with 51 ticks showing on the second-quarter clock to make it 24-7.  The Cardinals then quickly recovered another Pioneer fumble and tacked on a 21-yard Stanford field goal to head to the locker room on top 27-7.

Saginaw Valley, a NCAA Division II playoff qualifier a year ago, later tacked on a 33-yard Stanford field goal and a two-yard TD run by running back Jamohn Martin to increase its advantage to 37-7 midway through the fourth stanza.

Despite the deficit, the Pioneers kept playing hard down the stretch as the offense managed to engineer a late 10-play, 73-yard scoring drive that was capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass from Szpor to running back Steven Niewiedzial with a little under two minutes remaining.

On the afternoon, Saginaw Valley State posted 430 total yards of offense with 231 coming on the ground and 199 through the air.  Malone countered with 263 total yards, 102 rushing and 161 passing.

In all, Malone lost two fumbles and threw one interception, leading to 10 Cardinal points. SVSU lost one fumble, but did not surrender a score on the Pioneers' next possession.  Each squad was only penalized four times and time of possession was almost identical (29:36 for Saginaw, 30:24 for Malone).

Szpor ended the afternoon having completed 14 of his 22 passes for 161 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.  McLean hauled in five catches for 72 yards, including the 22-yard TD catch.  Wide receiver Josh McLaughlin added five catches for 60 yards.  Niewiedzial picked up 56 rushing yards on eight carries to go with his fourth-quarter touchdown grab. 

Safety Demarco Donaldson paced the MU defense with a game-high 18 tackles, including 11 solos.  He also forced a fumble and broke up one pass.  Linebacker Brandon Allison added nine stops while safety Brandon Commodore and linebacker James Benedix each notched seven tackles apiece. 

For the Cardinals, Jennings completed 16 of his 25 passes for 199 yards and two scores.  Janis hauled in four of those completions for 93 yards and one touchdown.  Hogue was SVSU's leading rusher with 80 yard and a TD on 12 attempts.  Linebacker Grant Caserta led the way for the SVSU defense with seven tackles, a sack and one pass break-up. 

The Pioneers will be back in action next Saturday (Sept. 15th) when they travel to Hillsdale (MI) College for a 7:00 p.m. meeting with the NCAA Div. II No. 25 Chargers.  Hillsdale will provide live video, audio and statistics of the contest.  Click here for links to the multimedia coverage.

Notes: Saturday's contest marked several milestones in the history of the Pioneer football program…Not only did the game signal the beginning of the Pioneers' 20th season of intercollegiate football, but it was also Malone's first-ever competition as a member of the GLIAC and the athletic department's first-ever football game as a provisional member of NCAA Division II.