KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Charl'Tez Nunnery (Jr.-Liberty, Miss.) directed four straight second half touchdown drives as part of a big day and Lakeland University's defense shut down Kalamazoo College in a 28-7 victory Saturday afternoon at Angell Field.

Nunnery rushed for three touchdowns and passed for another and the Muskies bounced back from a season-opening loss to pick up their first win of the season. The victory was part of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association-Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (MIAA-NACC) Challenge, and is Lakeland's third win in the eight years of the two leagues' annual showdown weekend.

A scoreless game at halftime turned when the Muskies scored 21 points in the third quarter and added another touchdown on their first drive of the fourth quarter to take a 28-0 lead. Lakeland scored on drives of 61, 59, 59 and 51 yards, needing just over 15 minutes of game time to reach the end zone on their first four drives of the second half.

Nunnery capped the first drive with a three-yard touchdown run on third and goal to get the Muskies on the board, and then scored on a two-yard dive on the next drive to make it 14-0. He added another score from three yards out in the fourth quarter for his career-best third touchdown run of the game.

The junior quarterback also did plenty of damage through the air, though. Nunnery completed 22 of 29 passes for 273 and one touchdown, a 33-yard score to Christian Chatman (So.-Detroit, Mich.) to make it 21-0 with 1:58 left in the third quarter. He also had connections of 38 yards with Larry Rivers (Jr.-Dearborn Heights, Mich.) and Chatman for 17 yards on the first touchdown drive, and completed five straight passes for a total of 48 yards to set up the second score. On top of that, Nunnery led the Muskies to an excellent 11 of 18 conversion rate on third down to keep numerous drives alive.

Lakeland put up 448 yards of offense for the game, gaining 288 yards through the air and another 160 on the ground with Nunnery, Rivers and Dezmon Eddie (Sr.-Alexandria, La.) as the chief playmakers. Rivers rushed 21 times for 74 yards and also caught seven passes for 84 yards, and Eddie added 40 yards rushing plus six catches for 68 yards.

The Muskies also leaned on their defense, though, and received a stellar performance throughout that included big plays in the first half and overall stinginess throughout. Lakeland held Kalamazoo (1-2 overall) to 242 yards of total offense and 12 first downs, forced seven three-and-outs and did not allow a score until the Hornets got on the board with 1:56 left in the game.

A pair of interceptions in the first half stopped Kalamazoo drives into Lakeland territory and kept the hosts off the board. Andrew Cardiel (So.-Needville, Texas) came up with the first, picking off a pass after the Hornets had driven as deep as the Muskies 18-yard line, and Ezekiel Combs (Jr.-East Point, Ga.) followed by picking off Niko Nickson in the end zone to end a 13-play, 87-yard drive.

Lakeland was especially tough on the run, limiting the Hornets to 41 yards on 27 rushing attempts. The defense's ability to get off the field quickly also helped the Muskies finish with a 10 1/2 minute advantage in time of possession (35:15 to 24:45).

Shazon Crutcher (Jr.-Lansing, Mich.) paced the defense with nine tackles, including a sack. Trevion Smith (Jr.-Griffin, Ga.) added eight tackles and Johnathan Hagerty (Jr.-Brookville, Ind.) also finished with eight tackles including 1 1/2 tackles for loss plus three pass breakups.

Lakeland is back home next week when it welcomes the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for a 6 p.m. kick under the lights at Taylor Field.

Muskies by the numbers:
3 - Rushing touchdowns for Charl'Tez Nunnery
7 - Three & outs for Kalamazoo forced by the Lakeland defense
41 - Rushing yards allowed by the Muskies
61.1 - Lakeland's third down percentage after converting 11 of 18 third downs
91 - Yards of total offense for Kalamazoo over its final 10 drives
158 - Combined yards for Larry Rivers, including 84 yards receiving and 74 yards rushing
1,971 - Career rushing yards for Dez Eddie, 29 short of 2,000