Last Thursday’s football game against West Texas A&M University featured some remarkable, if not out of the ordinary, occurrences in Grand Valley State University football.

The team entered halftime trailing in a regular season home game for the first time since the Lakers were down 23-21 at the half against Ashland University in 2008.

The Lakers also let up 17 straight unanswered points for the first time since losing to Hillsdale College last season.

But perhaps most remarkable of all was the storm of Laker fans that prequeled the storm that hit West Michigan no more than 10 minutes after the game’s conclusion – not in that the Laker faithful showed their undying support, but in that they stayed to show that support through the entire game.

In past games (as I expect it will be for many games this season), Lubbers stadium has had a tendency to clear out by halftime after fans get bored with watching the football team bully its less-than-elite GLIAC competitors. They tailgate and enter the game with a high level of enthusiasm, but by halftime the student section is usually empty.

But last Thursday, you, the fans, stuck around and continued to support the team by wearing all black, throwing open macaroni boxes in the air and making enough noise to force the Buffaloes into several pre-snap penalties.

And the team you cheer on is more than appreciative for that support.

“Being new to Grand Valley and not really knowing how things work coming out to the game, I heard that the fans usually go home after halftime because the game is usually over with,” said sophomore running back Norman Shuford. “Coming out at halftime and seeing everyone from the beginning still there, it made me feel like this year is really going to be something special.”

There were moments (specifically in the third quarter) in which the stadium went flat. The Lakers were down 24-16, hadn’t scored a touchdown since the first quarter and couldn’t get anything rolling on the offensive end, and the silent hope in the crowd reflected the situation on the field.

But one play changed everything. Senior quarterback Kyle McMahon, in his first appearance as a Laker, dropped back, rolled out to the right after being flushed out of the pocket and threw deep into triple coverage off of his back foot to junior wideout Jovanne Augustus, who snagged the pass around the 30 yard line and dashed into the end zone as three Buffalo defenders collided behind him.

From there on, silent hope broke out into a fervent roar that helped guide the team to victory. The players can take the credit for sacrificing their bodies (thank you, Greg Gay) and making the plays on the field (Luther Ware comes through in the clutch!), but McMahon said the fans are the ones that motivated them to go out there and perform.

“With a first game home opener late at night, you don’t want to let them down,” he said. “You want to show them what you’ve got, and you want to pull out the victory for them.”

managingeditor@lanthorn.com