The Lakeland College football team will aim to build on its good start in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play when it welcomes Concordia University Chicago to Taylor Field Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
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The Muskies enter with a 2-2 overall record and are 1-0 in conference play after a 15-13 win over Wisconsin Lutheran on the road last week.
Michael Whitley (
So.-Vidalia, La.) passed for 218 yards and rushed for 82, helping Lakeland get out to a 15-0 lead before WLC scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Muskies defense held the Warriors to 70 yards rushing and just 218 yards through three quarters before the hosts rallied in the final stanza.
Romain Johnson (
Sr.-Pontiac, Mich.) had 13 tackles and
Landon Derginer (
Sr.-Marinette, Wis.) added nine tackles, an interception and two passes broken up.
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Concordia also is 2-2 overall but 0-1 in the NACC. The Cougars opened conference play at home with the battle of the Concordias, losing to Concordia Wisconsin 49-14. Acusio Bivona connected with Ryan Allison for a pair of touchdowns for Concordia Chicago in the second quarter to tie the game at 14-14, but the Falcons scored just before halftime and then tallied 28 unanswered points in the second half. Despite the two TD passes, Cougar quarterbacks completed just 10 of 37 passes for the day, while Concordia Wisconsin passed for 369 yards and five touchdowns through the air.
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Saturday's game is the 47th installment of a rivalry between Lakeland and Concordia that continues to be one of the Muskies' longest-running rivalries. The Muskies hold a 32-14 lead all-time in the series with the Cougars and have won two straight, including a 35-7 win in River Forest last year.
Lakeland senior wide receiver
Kezlow Smith (
Pontiac, Mich.) also enters the game with a school record in sight, as he is just 30 yards from tying the school record of 2,254 receiving yards held by MacArthur White (2004-07). Smith actually is in third on the all-time list coming in but with 15 yards can move into second place on the Muskies' all-time list, currently held by Calvin Thomas (1997-2000) with 2,239 yards.
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Live audio will be available with the live video and statistics for the game at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/lc/. Baxter Colburn will call the play-by-play.
For the rest of this week's game notes please click
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