Lakeland University's top-ranked offense in NCAA Division III meets Aurora University's No. 1 defense in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference in a huge conference matchup Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Aurora's new Spartan Athletic Park.
First place and the inside track to the NACC regular season title and a Division III Playoffs bid is on the line when the only two undefeated teams in the conference meet Saturday. Lakeland and Aurora are both 3-0 in the NACCÂ midway through the six-game conference schedule.
The Muskies (5-2 overall) dominated Wisconsin Lutheran on both sides of the ball in a 48-0 win last week on the road in Milwaukee.
Dezmon Eddie (
So.-Alexandria, La.) rushed for 235 yards and scored three touchdowns as Lakeland gained 419 yards on the ground and finished with a massive 613-120 advantage in total offense. The defense also completely shut down the Warriors, allowing a net of just 18 yards on 43 rushing attempts and an average of just 1.9 yards per play.
Diante Moses (
Jr.-Houston, Texas) registered three of the Muskies' five sacks and led a tremendous team effort that saw 13 different defenders record at least a share of a tackle for loss.
Aurora (4-3 overall) held off Rockford for a 28-21 win last week to remain undefeated in the NACC. Connor Olson rushed for 139 yards, Cody Lane scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground and A.J. Hunter returned a punt 88 yards for a score. Aurora did all its scoring in the second and third quarters and built a 28-6 lead, but the Regents closed within a touchdown and then had two drives to tie in the final minutes, getting as deep as the Spartans' 22-yard line on one of them.
Lakeland enters the game rated as the very best in Division III in total offense, with its output of 564.3 ypg No. 1 in the nation. The Muskies also are first nationally in total first downs (243) and rank ninth in scoring with their average of 44.6 points per game. Meanwhile, Aurora boasts a defense that ranks first in the conference in fewest points and yards per game allowed, including easily the NACC's top-ranked rush defense.
The Muskies and Spartans tied for the conference regular season title last year, but Lakeland rolled to a 55-25 win at Urban Field in Sheboygan as
Michael Whitley (
Sr.-Vidalia, La.) set a new school single-game mark for total offense with 576 yards, part of the Muskies going off for 731 yards of total offense. Aurora is the longest-running opponent in Lakeland football history, with the series between the two schools dating back to the Muskies' first year playing football in 1934. This is the 34th meeting all-time, and Lakeland holds a 17-16 edge now after winning the last four matchups.
The Spartans also are playing just their second game at Spartan Athletic Park, a new stadium in Montgomery, Ill., just two minutes from the Aurora campus that opened last week.
Live video and live statistics from the game will be available from Aurora atÂ
http://athletics.aurora.edu/sports/2015/9/1/gameviewerfootball.aspx?id=372.
For the rest of this week's game notes please click
here.
Â
