HIDDEN VALLEY: Despite dominating Division II this decade, Grand Valley State doesn't get much respect
FLORENCE, Ala. -- Three years ago, in the week leading up to the NCAA Division II football semifinal, a few players from Texas A&M-Kingsville told reporters that Grand Valley State didn't have a chance to win the game. Grand Valley then won, 31-3.
Two things have remained the same since that week in 2003. The small program from Allendale in west Michigan keeps winning -- this year's senior class is 51-4 -- and the team's opponents keep running their mouths.
"We go through that a lot," said third-year coach Chuck Martin. "Certain teams have discounted us. Sometimes people underestimate how good we are."
Today, the Lakers get another chance to remind the Division II football community how dominant they are. They play Northwest Missouri State in the championship game at Florence, Ala.
It is a rematch of last year's title game, which Grand Valley State won, 21-17, for the school's third national championship in the past four years. This year, both teams enter the game 14-0 -- a first in the Division II playoffs.
Through the first 14 games, the Lakers have run over opponents, outscoring them by a total of almost 300 points. Only once did they win by less than 10.
Martin, who took over for Brian Kelly in 2004, is a defensive-minded coach and doesn't take the type of chances Kelly did. Say, for example, going for it on fourth down from your own 30-yard line, as Kelly sometimes liked to do.
Still, Martin's style led to a title last year and the title game this year. The team has won 27 in a row and 84 of its past 89 games. This week the Lakers put six players on the Division II All-America first team.
Even Martin can't fathom the team's success.
"I've been around sports a long time," he said, "and I can't explain it. It's mind-boggling."
"We always hear, 'We didn't play our best,' " from opponents, said Mike McFadden, an All-America defensive lineman from Saginaw.
Grand Valley State relies heavily on Michigan talent. Its quarterback, Brighton's Cullen Finnerty, is about to graduate with the most victories in school history. Their best receiver, Eric Fowler, is from New Haven. He has 76 receptions and leads the country with 1,598 receiving yards.
"We always have a bull's-eye on our back," Fowler said. "It's tough to hear."
The Lakers have sent other players to the NFL, yet every year come playoff time, teams from outside the region salivate at the prospect of taking them down.
Martin thinks that perception is due in part to the team's lack of flair.
"At times we are pretty efficient and not that flashy," he said. "We are pretty good at executing on both sides. We get some leads and grind it out."
He thinks their execution doesn't translate on film. Many teams often undervalue Grand Valley's athleticism before facing the Lakers.
"But anybody that watched us Sunday night (on ESPN2) would say otherwise," Martin said.
That was when Delta State -- which questioned Grand Valley State's talent heading into the semifinal -- lost by 19 points. The Lakers hung 49 points on their foe.
FLORENCE, Ala. -- Three years ago, in the week leading up to the NCAA Division II football semifinal, a few players from Texas A&M-Kingsville told reporters that Grand Valley State didn't have a chance to win the game. Grand Valley then won, 31-3.
Two things have remained the same since that week in 2003. The small program from Allendale in west Michigan keeps winning -- this year's senior class is 51-4 -- and the team's opponents keep running their mouths.
"We go through that a lot," said third-year coach Chuck Martin. "Certain teams have discounted us. Sometimes people underestimate how good we are."
Today, the Lakers get another chance to remind the Division II football community how dominant they are. They play Northwest Missouri State in the championship game at Florence, Ala.
It is a rematch of last year's title game, which Grand Valley State won, 21-17, for the school's third national championship in the past four years. This year, both teams enter the game 14-0 -- a first in the Division II playoffs.
Through the first 14 games, the Lakers have run over opponents, outscoring them by a total of almost 300 points. Only once did they win by less than 10.
Martin, who took over for Brian Kelly in 2004, is a defensive-minded coach and doesn't take the type of chances Kelly did. Say, for example, going for it on fourth down from your own 30-yard line, as Kelly sometimes liked to do.
Still, Martin's style led to a title last year and the title game this year. The team has won 27 in a row and 84 of its past 89 games. This week the Lakers put six players on the Division II All-America first team.
Even Martin can't fathom the team's success.
"I've been around sports a long time," he said, "and I can't explain it. It's mind-boggling."
"We always hear, 'We didn't play our best,' " from opponents, said Mike McFadden, an All-America defensive lineman from Saginaw.
Grand Valley State relies heavily on Michigan talent. Its quarterback, Brighton's Cullen Finnerty, is about to graduate with the most victories in school history. Their best receiver, Eric Fowler, is from New Haven. He has 76 receptions and leads the country with 1,598 receiving yards.
"We always have a bull's-eye on our back," Fowler said. "It's tough to hear."
The Lakers have sent other players to the NFL, yet every year come playoff time, teams from outside the region salivate at the prospect of taking them down.
Martin thinks that perception is due in part to the team's lack of flair.
"At times we are pretty efficient and not that flashy," he said. "We are pretty good at executing on both sides. We get some leads and grind it out."
He thinks their execution doesn't translate on film. Many teams often undervalue Grand Valley's athleticism before facing the Lakers.
"But anybody that watched us Sunday night (on ESPN2) would say otherwise," Martin said.
That was when Delta State -- which questioned Grand Valley State's talent heading into the semifinal -- lost by 19 points. The Lakers hung 49 points on their foe.
