ADRIAN, Mich. – Adrian College's Kyle Nutter scored on a four-yard touchdown run with 3:40 left in the game and the Lakeland University football team came up just short in a 28-21 road loss Saturday afternoon.

The Muskies used big plays to stay in the game on a day marred by injuries, but dropped to 3-2 overall after losing a battle of preseason conference favorites from the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference and Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Adrian won the first-ever meeting between the schools and improved to 3-2 overall.

The host Bulldogs used a formula that has been a familiar one for them this season, keeping drives alive with third- and fourth-down conversions and milking the clock. Adrian entered the game second in NCAA Division III in average time of possession at better than 37 minutes per game, and did even better in this game, hogging the ball for 39:59 to just 20:01 for Lakeland.

The hosts also converted 8 of 16 third downs and had a key conversion plus one crucial fourth down on the game-winning drive. On the final 12-play, 59-yard push that took 7:02 off the clock, the Bulldogs converted a 3rd-and-11 for first down and then kept the drive alive again with a 4th-and-9 conversion, with quarterback Gage Smith finding Jerron McGaw for completions of 18 and 14 yards, respectively, on the two plays.

The Muskies' plans and attempts to sustain offense took a hit in the second quarter when quarterback and reigning NACC Player of the Year Michael Whitley (Jr.-Vidalia, La.) left the game with an ankle injury. Whitley was injured on a 15-yard run midway through the second quarter with the score tied 7-7, and after attempting to return he left the game for good late in the first half.

Thrown into action, freshman Logan O'Neill (Spokane Valley, Wash.) did his best to keep Lakeland in the game and found success in a way well-practiced by Whitley and the Muskies, hitting Kezlow Smith (Sr.-Pontiac, Mich.) on the deep ball. Smith caught touchdown passes of 67 and 66 yards from O'Neill, with the latter tying the game at 21-21 with 10:48 left in the game.

Unfortunately, consistent offense was a challenge for the guests. Lakeland gained 280 yards and just 12 first downs in the game, and running in particular was tough with 50 yards net on 26 rushes. The Muskies also had an early drive end down at the Adrian 1-yard line and two other drives end on interceptions, including their final drive late in the fourth quarter.

Lakeland did take an early lead on a play that will perhaps go down as one of the most exciting in school history. With 4th-and-12 at the Muskies 36 yard line, Adrian elected to have kicker Cameron Cook attempt a 53-yard field goal. Cook's kick was short, and Michael Wynn (Sr.-Detroit, Mich.) was positioned to field the miss and attempt a run back. And run he did, as Wynn took the kick down the left sideline and was barely touched, in all credited with a 100-yard return to give Lakeland an early 7-0 lead.

Adrian answered with a touchdown on Nutter's first four-yard touchdown of the day, and the Bulldogs took the lead with 57 seconds left in the first half on a 15-yard connection from Smith to Darius Philon. O'Neill and Smith hooked up for their first scoring bomb with 2:25 left in the third quarter to tie it, and Foster Walker put Adrian back ahead early in the fourth with a two-yard run before O'Neill hit Smith for the second time just 56 seconds later to tie it again.

O'Neill completed 8 of 21 passes for 207 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Richard Micheaux (Sr.-Taylor, Mich.) caught three passes for 42 yards, while Dezmon Eddie (Fr.-Alexandria, La.) led the ground game with 36 yards on eight carries. In addition to Whitley, wide receiver Peyton Petersen (Jr.-Farmington Hills, Mich.) also left the game with an injury and did not return.

Donte Rowell (Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) and Airiss Hargrow (Sr.-Flint, Mich.) were both credited with 17 tackles, with Rowell's total including seven solo tackles and Hargrow adding five solo stops. Diante Moses (So.-Houston, Texas) and Kevyn Lewis (Sr.-Inkster, Mich.) added 10 tackles each, Sam Anderson (Fr.-Plainfield, Ill.) picked up the team's lone sack and Kory Peterson (Jr.-Detroit, Mich.) recovered a fumble.

The Muskies' gauntlet of a schedule continues next week with a trip to Benedictine (Ill.) University for a big Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at 1 p.m. in Lisle, Ill.

Muskies by the numbers:
2 - Fumble recoveries this season by Kory Peterson, a former Lakeland quarterback turned linebacker
14 - Career 100-yard receiving games for Kezlow Smith
17 - Number of tackles by both Airiss Hargrow and Donte Rowell
22 - Total offensive plays for Muskies in the first half
39:59 - Time of possession by Adrian on Saturday
50 - Total rushing yards for Lakeland
100 - Official length in yards of Michael Wynn's missed field goal return for a touchdown
207 - Passing yards off the bench by freshman Logan O'Neill
3,062 - Career receiving yards for Kezlow Smith, and his first reception Saturday made him the first in school history to top 3,000 yards receiving