Carroll has defeated Lakeland each of the last five years and holds a 5-0 lead in the all-time series between the two. That includes a 33-7 win last year at Lakeland, in which the Pioneers took advantage of big plays to pull away while the Muskies were unable to capitalize on a number of advancements into Carroll territory.

Despite Carroll's lead in the series, last year's meeting was the first in the series that tipped heavily towards the winner on the scoreboard, as the previous four games were decided by an average of just over 10 points. The last time the two teams met in Waukesha was in 2013, when Carroll rallied from a third-quarter deficit to take the lead and then added a 45-yard touchdown run by Daniel Arden with 3:04 to play for a 27-18 win.

The Muskies are coming off a 6-4 overall record last year and at 5-1 was part of a three-way tie for the regular season championship in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Lakeland finished literally one point away from its first trip to the NCAA Division III Playoffs since 2009, as a loss to eventual champion by less than the margin of the Eagles' 16-0 win would've put the Muskies in the playoffs. Lakeland still won its first league title since 2009, led by one of the top defenses in Division III. The Muskies ranked among the national top 25 in 10 team defensive statistical categories, including in the top 10 in seven categories.

Sophomore Michael Whitley (Vidalia, La.) will get his first start for Lakeland, which returns five starters on offense and six on defense. The Muskies also will feature 16 seniors, including two-time first team all-NACC receiver Kezlow Smith (Pontiac, Mich.) plus fellow all-conference honorees last year in safety Landon Derginer (Marinette, Wis.), wide receivers Michael Esiobu (Chicago, Ill.) and Peyton Petersen (Farmington Hills, Mich.), linebackers Fred Fielding (Black Creek, Wis.) and Romain Johnson (Pontiac, Mich.), defensive tackle Jake LaFleur (Mishicot, Wis.) and offensive tackle Javon Toland (Detroit, Mich.).

Carroll also is coming off a very good year, going 8-2 in 2014 and finishing 4-1 to place second in the North Division of the Midwest Conference. The Pioneers got off to a 7-0 start to the season, outscoring opponents 281-74 over those games before losing two of three to end the year. Carroll also was tabbed as the North Division favorite in the Midwest Conference's preseason poll, in its final year in that league before returning to the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin.

Carroll will provide live video and live stats from Saturday's game at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/carroll/#. Lakeland also will be providing a live audio broadcast from the game from our Muskies Live page at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/lc/. Baxter Colburn will call the play-by-play with Grant Coppersmith providing analysis.

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