Perched at the top of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with two games to go, the Lakeland College football team faces the first of two big challenges to close the regular season when it hosts Concordia University Wisconsin Saturday at high noon at Taylor Field.

It's a big day all the way around, as first place in the conference is on the line, and it is Senior Day for 14 Muskie seniors who will be playing their final home games. To top if off, Lakeland and Concordia will be playing for the Cheese Bowl trophy for the 23rd time, and the Muskies will be looking to take the trophy back after the Falcons have held it the last three years.

The game will also feature one of NCAA Division III's top offenses against one of its best defenses. Concordia (5-3 overall, 3-1 NACC) comes in averaging 37.8 points per game and ranks fifth nationally in total offense and sixth in passing offense. Lakeland (5-3 overall, 4-0 NACC) ranks among the top 10 in Division III in six defensive statistical categories, including fifth in rush defense and ninth in total defense.

The Muskies come in on a five-game winning streak and ran their streak to five with a 20-17 non-conference win over Alma (Mich.) last week. Lakeland trailed 10-7 at halftime but scored 13 unanswered points before the Scots made a final late attempt at a rally, scoring with 26 seconds left. Kendrick Burks (Sr.-Pontiac, Mich.) rushed for 99 yards and two scores and Michael Esiobu (Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) caught five passes for 93 yards, including a 52-yard bomb from A.J. Veloz (Fr.-Whiting, Ind.) early in the third quarter to put Lakeland ahead. Landon Derginer (Jr.-Marinette, Wis.) had a career-high 12 tackles on defense, and Derginer and Patrick Johnson (Sr.-Pontiac, Mich.) both had interceptions.

Concordia suffered its first NACC loss last week when Benedictine came in to Mequon and emerged with a 33-6 win. The Falcons had a miserable day offensively, committing six turnovers and being held 36 points below their season scoring average coming in. The Eagles stunned the Falcons with a 57-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left in the first half to break a 6-6 tie, and then added a touchdown on their first offensive possession of the second half and a 54-yard interception return for a touchdown. Concordia's prolific offense was held to 300 yards, including 215 yards passing.

Concordia leads the all-time series between the schools 21-13 and is 14-8 in Cheese Bowl games since the trophy was first awarded in 1992. The Muskies last defeated the Falcons in 2010 when they scored a 29-7 win over Concordia at home.

Fourteen Lakeland seniors will be honored before Saturday's game, including Seniors being honored are Burks, Johnson, Dylan Busch (Green Bay, Wis.), Andy Crivellone (Oak Lawn, Ill.), Yaphay Harvey (Milwaukee, Wis.), Angelo Hernandez (Chicago, Ill.), Matt Hill (Iron River, Mich.), Mike Looby (McMillan, Mich.), Kurt Schneider (Green Bay, Wis.), Aaron Sherry (New Holstein, Wis.), Jacob Simonson (Greenfield, Wis.), Trevor Tanck (Baileys Harbor, Wis.), Andrew Wagner (West Bend, Wis.) and Daniel Zea (Gurnee, Ill.).

Live video and live stats for the game will be available from Lakeland College at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/lc/.

For the rest of this week's game notes please click here