The Lakeland College football team kicks off Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play in a big way Saturday when it travels to face Wisconsin Lutheran College at 1 p.m. at Raabe Stadium in Milwaukee.
There will be no time for the Muskies to gently test the waters in conference play as they will face one two teams that tied Lakeland for last year's NACC regular season title. Wisconsin Lutheran shared the league crown with Lakeland and Benedictine last year, with all three finishing 5-1 in conference games.
Â
The Muskies are coming off a painful 29-28 loss to Carthage last week in their Homecoming game. The Red Men scored a safety and then a touchdown in the final 3:13 of the game, including the go-ahead touchdown with 35 seconds left.
Michael Whitley (
So.-Vidalia, La.) had another effective performance, passing for 367 yards and three touchdowns, and
Kezlow Smith (
Sr.-Pontiac, Mich.) had another big game receiving with 12 receptions for 188 yards.
Josh Schneider (
Sr.-Green Bay, Wis.) also came up huge time and again defensively with 12 tackles, six for loss, but the Muskies lost on Homecoming for the first time in 10 years and lost to Carthage for the 12th straight time.
Â
The Warriors were idle last week, but in their most recent game two weeks ago lost to Trine (Ind.) 17-12 as part of the MIAA-NACC Challenge. WLC outgained the Thunder in first downs 21-18 but went just 3 of 16 on third downs. The Warriors defense also surrendered 340 yards rushing, and Trine held on after building a 17-7 halftime lead. Gino DeGeorge completed 25 of 41 passes for 217 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Â
This is the ninth meeting all-time between Lakeland and Wisconsin Lutheran in a series that began in 2001. The Muskies lead the series 6-2 and have won two straight against the Warriors. That includes a 47-7 rout last year at home on Homecoming, a game in which the Lakeland defense dominated in hostile and emphatic fashion, limiting WLC to 65 yards of offense and four first downs.
Yaphay Harvey had two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, and
Trevor Tanck had four tackles for loss, while Smith also had four catches for 130 yards and a 79-yard touchdown. The Muskies have defeated Wisconsin Lutheran at home on Homecoming each of the last two years. WLC has won two of the three times it has hosted Lakeland, including its last win in the series three years ago, a 27-17 win in Milwaukee.
A live audio broadcast for the game will be available from Lakeland College at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/lc/. Baxter Colburn will call the play-by-play. Wisconsin Lutheran will also have live stats and a live audio broadcast available for the game as well at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/wlc/.For the rest of this week's game notes please click
hereÂ
