Grand Valley St. sets up rematch in D-II championship

Updated: December 11, 2006, 1:49 AM ET

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Associated Press

Grand Valley St Defeats Delta St

Grand Valley St Defeats Delta StTags: College Football

ALLENDALE, Mich. -- Cullen Finnerty passed for 365 yards and six touchdowns to lead defending national champion Grand Valley State to a 49-30 victory over Delta State on Sunday night in the NCAA Division II semifinals.

In a rematch of the 2005 championship, Grand Valley (14-0) will face Northwest Missouri State -- a 33-3 winner over Bloomsburg -- in the title game Saturday in Florence, Ala., Last year, Grand Valley beat Northwest Missouri 21-17.

"It was a great football game from our standpoint," Lakers coach Chuck Martin said. "We came out smoking and got an early lead. Our kids played at an unbelievably high level. They never got down and kept playing football."

Grand Valley has won 27 straight games, the longest streak in any NCAA division. The Lakers will appear in the national championship game for the fifth time in six years. The Lakers won titles in 2002, 2003 and 2005.

"I'd be less than candid to say it was our best effort," Delta State coach Rick Rhoades said. "It wasn't our night. They made the plays and we didn't."

Finnerty threw two TD passes Terry Mitchell in the first quarter and two more to Antione Trent in the second quarter to give Grand Valley a 28-14 halftime lead. The Lakers went up 35-14 on the Statesmen (12-3) on Finnerty's 13-yard scoring pass to Blake Smolen in the third quarter.

"Cullen played as good of a football game as anyone I've ever seen," Martin said.

Finnerty threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Eric Fowler and Astin Martin added a 3-yard TD run in the fourth quarter for the Lakers.

"The coaches give us enough flexibility to check off plays and to be able to take control of the game," Finnerty said.

Delta State's Scott Eyster threw touchdown passes of 7 and 65 yards to Eric Marshall and 7 yards to Robert Davis.

Derek Freeman blocked Justin Trumble's punt attempt in the end zone and Chad Schroeder recovered for Delta State's second touchdown. Cody Hallmark blocked another punt for a safety in the third quarter.

Eyster finished 31-for-48 for 324 yards. Finnerty had more passing yards despite completing only about half as many passes (16-for-30).

"He played an exceptional game," Eyster said of his counterpart. "Grand Valley has a great team. I wish them well."