The Lakeland University football team christens a new season Saturday and does so at home when it hosts Carroll University at John Taylor Memorial Field on campus for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

The Muskies and Pioneers will meet in both teams' respective season openers for the 10th consecutive year, with Carroll having won six of the nine previous meetings. That includes last year, when the Pioneers rallied with 21 straight points in the fourth quarter to close the game for a 45-26 win that snapped Lakeland's three-year winning streak in the series.

The Muskies finished 4-6 last year, a mark that snapped a string of five straight winning seasons. Lakeland's 4-3 mark in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference also halted its four-year string of conference championships, but this year the team goesinto this season with 18 of its 22 starters from its last game a year ago, including 10 starters on offense.

Carroll finished 3-7 last year, including 2-7 in the tough College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin. This year's team has a significant amount of experience to replace after last year's squad featured 30 seniors. The Pioneers' spread offense will have new leaders after the departure of quarterback Colton Bahling, top running back J.J. Keels and leading receiver Parker Zitzke, and the defense also lost its top seven tacklers from last year.
 
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