PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – Larry Rivers (So.-Dearborn Heights, Mich.) rushed for 92 yards and Lakeland University had success in spurts on both sides of the ball in falling to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville 49-12 Saturday night at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.

The Muskies sustained several long drives on offense and intercepted three passes on defense, at times getting the better of play against their strong opponent from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Lakeland dropped to 0-3 overall, though, completing its non-conference schedule with Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play now for the duration of its season.

Lakeland drove 61 and 76 yards on its first two drives, with the latter ending with Charl'Tez Nunnery (So.-Liberty, Mo.) hitting Jamal Hawkins-Sconiers (Sr.-St. James, Mo.) for a 13-yard touchdown pass to cut the Pioneers' lead to 7-6. Nunnery connected with Dezmon Eddie (Jr.-Alexandria, La.) and Christian Chatman (Fr.-Detroit, Mich.) for passes of 37 and 33 yards, respectively, on the first two drives, as the Muskies found success in the air early on.

Lakeland also had a 14-play, 69-yard drive at the start of the second quarter and later drove 75 yards in the second half for a score, with Chatman catching a 22-yard pass from Logan O'Neill (Jr.-Spokane Valley, Wash.) for his first collegiate touchdown reception. Besides those highlights, consistency was lacking as the Muskies went three-and-out on six drives and had two more possessions end in turnovers.

UW-Platteville (2-1 overall), which was in the NCAA Division III national rankings before a seven-ponit loss to Thomas More (Ky.) College last week, displayed a balanced attack that picked up 522 yards of offense, including 283 rushing and 239 passing. The Pioneers scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives from the end of the first quarter into the second period, turning a slim 7-6 edge into a 28-6 halftime lead.

Evan Gates scored three touchdowns on the ground for Platteville, with his last one giving the Pioneers a 42-6 lead late in the third quarter. Lakeland answered with its second touchdown drive to get on the board with 14 minutes, 5 seconds left in the game before UWP closed out the scoring with Brett Geisz's five-yard run with 11:57 left in the game.

The Muskies did stop three Platteville drives with interceptions. Ezekiel Combs (So.-East Point, Ga.), Jerry Stokes (Jr.-Missouri City, Texas) and Paul Saucedo (Fr.-Georgetown, Texas) all came up with their first collegiate picks, and the Muskies pass defense limited the Pioneers to 17 completions in 33 attempts.

Rivers rushed 20 times for 92 yards to lead the Lakeland offense, which gained 276 yards, including 159 passing and 127 on the ground. Nunnery passed for 107 yards and rushed for another 37, while O'Neill passed for 52 yards. Chatman caught three passes for 68 yards and Eddie added three catches for 57 yards to lead the receivers.

Washington Vivanco (Jr.-Houston, Texas) finished with a career-high 13 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss. Stokes also added to his interception with nine tackles, including two sacks. Rayshion Brumfield (Fr.-Ponchatoula, La.) also added four tackles plus three pass breakups.

Colin Schuetz completed 13 of 24 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 47 yards and a score for UW-Platteville. Gates carried 17 times for 77 yards to lead the Pioneers rushing attack.

Lakeland is back on home turf next week and opens defense of its NACC title when it welcomes Concordia University Chicago for a 1 p.m. kickoff for the Muskies' Homecoming game.

Muskies by the numbers:
3 - Interceptions by the Lakeland defense
4 - Drives of at least 61 yards by the Muskies
9.5 - Average number of plays on Lakeland's four long drives
13 - Career-high tackles by Washington Vivanco
31 - First downs for UW-Platteville
35:06 - Time of possession for UW-Platteville
92 - Rushing yards for Larry Rivers
240 - Rushing yards this season for Rivers, a team high
286 - Yards of offense for the Muskies