A historic night for Lakeland University received a proper finish from its football team, as the Muskies delivered a dazzling offensive performance and some history of their own in a 43-29 win over Carroll University in their season opener Saturday night.

The first on-campus night game in school history and the first game at the new John Taylor Memorial Field was a rousing success, with an overflow crowd including members of the school's storied 1967 football team on hand to watch Lakeland overwhelm Carroll with a high-flying passing attack in the first half. Heavy rains before the game subsided well before kickoff, and the Muskies defeated the Pioneers in their season opener for the third straight year.

Lakeland raced out to a 36-7 halftime lead with a huge first half keyed once again by senior quarterback Michael Whitley (Vidalia, La.). The two-time Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Offensive Player of the Year passed for 371 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for 51 yards and two more scores-all in just one half of work.

Whitley's total included two especially quick strikes that quickly turned a close game in the Muskies' favor. The first came late in the first quarter on the first play of a drive starting at Lakeland's own 13-yard line, as Whitley aired out a pass down the right sideline to Dezmen Morse (Sr.-Milwaukee, Wis.), who hauled it in and raced 87 yards for the touchdown and a 15-7 lead.

Incredibly, that would be only the Muskies' second-longest pass play of the night. Following a punt early in the second quarter, Lakeland took over at its own one-yard line. After an incompletion on first down, Whitley went deep again and this time hit Jamal Hawkins-Sconiers (St. James, Mo.) down the left sideline, and junior wideout left the field in his dust for a 99-yard touchdown pass for his first collegiate touchdown and the longest passing play in school history.

The Muskies continued to roll in the second quarter, as Donte Rowell (Sr.-Chicago, Ill.) intercepted a pass and a short 50-yard, five-play drive ended with Whitley scoring from three yards out. Lakeland then closed the half by taking a longer path to driving the length of the field that was every bit as effective, going 97 yards in 11 plays that ended with Whitley hitting Jody Harrison (Sr.-Pontiac, Mich.) for a 24-yard score with just 29 seconds left in the half.

The Muskies cruised in the second half, with the running game and the defense taking over. Eldrada Meeks (Jr.-Southfield, Mich.) rushed for 77 of his 89 yards in the final 30 minutes, and freshman cornerback Oman Smothers (Gadsden, Ala.) intercepted a pair of passes in his collegiate debut.

Lakeland held Carroll to one first down in the third quarter, and then answered the bell after the Pioneers scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to briefly draw closer. Whitley led a 13-play, 91-yard drive that ended with a 4th-and-goal conversion, as he hit Hawkins-Sconiers over the middle for a five-yard touchdown and a 43-15 lead that would hold up even as Carroll scored twice late.

Whitley finished completing 27 of 46 passes for 473 yards and four touchdowns and also rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns. The 473 yards passing are the fourth-most in a game in school history and just 35 yards from the record of 508 yards set by Mark Novara Sept. 28, 1996 against Franklin (Ind.).

Hawkins-Sconiers (141 yards) and Morse (122 yards) both topped 100 yards receiving, while Harrison added eight catches for 95 yards and Allante Gardner (Jr.-Detroit, Mich.) caught four balls for 63 yards.

Diante Moses (Jr.-Houston, Texas) paced the defense with 11 tackles, including two tackles for loss. Rowell added seven tackles and Mario Rafe (Jr.-Bourbonnais, Ill.) totaled six tackles, with 2.5 tackles for loss including 1.5 sacks.

Lakeland finished with 647 yards of total offense and 28 first downs, totals the Pioneers of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin couldn't keep up with. Carroll rolled up 433 yards of offense of its own and scored touchdowns of 57 and 55 yards of its own, but the guests committed four turnovers and converted just six of 18 third downs.

Lakeland will be idle next week before returning to action in two weeks against Hope (Mich.) College on Sept. 19. Game time in Holland, Mich., will be 12:30 p.m. Central time.

Muskies by the numbers:
0 - Home games on campus at night in the 81-year history of Lakeland football prior to this game, which also was the first Muskies' game played on their new artificial turf field
1 - Sack allowed by the Muskies' offensive line as Michael Whitley threw 46 passes in the game
3 - Number of receivers with at least 90 yards receiving in the game's first half (Dezmen Morse-101, Jamal Hawkins-Sconiers-99, Jody Harrison-91)
4 - Turnovers forced by the Muskies defense
5 - The jersey number for both Lakeland quarterback Michael Whitley and defensive back Oman Smothers, as allowed by NCAA rules allowing duplicate numbers on opposite sides of the ball. Both No. 5s had big games, with Whitley accounting for six touchdowns and Smothers intercepting two passes
17.5 - Average yards per completion by Whitley
33.3 - Third down conversion percentage for Carroll
84 - Average yards on Lakeland's six touchdown drives
422 - Yards of total offense by Whitley in the first half
647 - Yards of total offense in the game by the Muskies
6,574 - Career passing yardage total for Whitley, who leaped from fifth to second on the Muskies' all-time passing yardage list with this game and now trails only Mark Novara (11,295 yards from 1994-97). Whitley's 63 career touchdown passes are now also the second-most in Lakeland history.