The wait is almost over for the Grand Valley State football team.
The Lakers thought they were going to play their first game since 2019 last week, but Edinboro had to cancel because of COVID-19.
Now, GVSU will open this Satuday at home against 12th ranked Colorado State-Pueblo.
"It is going to be new for a lot of guys," Lakers quarterback Cade Peterson said. "That is the biggest thing, we are excited, we are ready and we are looking forward to it."
The ThunderWolves played last week and lost to 5th ranked Texas A&M Commerce 12-6 in a game that they lost their starting quarterback to injury on their second drive.
"They have a game under their belt but I feel like during this whole COVID thing we've had so much time to just get experience playing," GVSU sophomore offensive lineman Garrett Carroll said. "Going against each other everyday, I feel like we have tons of experience under our belt going in."
For many GVSU players, Saturday's game has been a long time coming.
"We have a mixture of guys, we have some seniors that put life on hold for an entire year to come back and compete," 12th year Lakers head coach Matt Mitchell said. "The class that I feel probably worse for is the guys that redshirted back in 2019, had COVID in '20 and are first time playing in 2021, the last time playing high school football was 2018. It is a mix but they are all ready to go and give them a lot of credit because they have really persevered through a lot to get here."
The game is scheduled to kick at 7 p.m.
