The Lakeland University football team can put itself back in the driver's seat for a second straight NCAA Division III playoff berth when it faces Aurora University in a critical Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Urban Field in Sheboygan.
First place in the NACC is on the line when the Muskies (5-3 overall, 3-1 NACC) host the Spartans (5-3 overall, 4-0 NACC). Lakeland can wrap up its second straight playoff bid if it wins its final two regular season games, while Aurora would clinch the conference title and its first playoff spot since 2008 if victorious in its final two games.
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The Muskies are coming off a strong performance last week when they responded to their first NACC loss of the season in a big way, rolling past Concordia Chicago 42-14.
Michael Whitley completed 21 of 28 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for 60 yards and two more scores. Whitley threw touchdown passes of 56 yards to
Dezmon Eddie and 44 yards to
Kezlow Smith and also rushed 38 yards for a TD, all as Lakeland built a 28-0 lead after just one quarter.
Michael Wynn also rushed for a touchdown and caught another, and
Mason Ross also intercepted two passes to lead a defense that forced eight punts and produced two turnovers in the Cougars' first 11 possessions.
Aurora squeezed past Concordia Wisconsin 20-19 last week to remain the only undefeated team in NACC play. Geron Rogers threw a 37-yard touchdown strike to Brandon Lucas with 7:46 left in the game for the winning points as Aurora rallied from an early 19-7 deficit. Noah Allgood, Cody Lane and Connor Olson combined to rush for 242 yards to lead the Spartans, who once again relied heavily on the run game to control the ball for more than 35 minutes.
Saturday will mark Senior Day for 12 Muskies players. It also is Lakeland's second game at Urban Field on the campus of Sheboygan North High School, as well as the last before the Muskies return to a brand new Taylor Field next season.
Live stats and live video will be available for the game at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/lc/.
For the rest of Saturday's game notes please click
here.
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