Lakeland last time out: Won at Eureka 45-16 last week
The Muskies received a strong defensive effort, a banner day on special teams and a good start from the offense to win its third straight Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game. Lakeland never trailed and scored 31 points in the first half, getting big plays again in the passing game as Charl'Tez Nunnery's 14 completions went for 290 yards. Larry Rivers also rushed for over 100 yards for the eighth straight game. The defense held the Red Devils to 252 yards for the game with Andrew Cardiel, Jayson Wilder and Matt Glogowski all intercepting passes. Charles Kobe also blocked three punts to tie an NCAA Divsion III record for blocked punts in a game, earning him NACC and D3football.com special teams player of the week honors.

Aurora last time out: Defeated Benedictine 63-41 last week
The Spartans won the first of what will be two consecutive showdowns for first place in the NACC, handing the Eagles their first conference loss. Aurora had another offensive explosion in NACC play, taking a 42-14 halftime lead and topping 60 points for the fourth time in six conference games. Quarterback Gavin Zimbelman again put up huge numbers with 432 yards passing and seven touchdowns, including four touchdown passes to Trey Madsen. Tyran Bailey also rushed for 89 yards and Aurora gained 589 yards of offense and scored touchdowns on nine of its 11 drives, stopped only by a fumble in the third quarter and time running out at the end of the game.

About the Spartans: Aurora opened the season with a pair of losses on the road to highly ranked teams nationally, including a 64-7 blowout at North Central (Ill.), currently the top-ranked team in the D3football.com Top 25 Poll. The Spartans have hit their stride in the NACC, scoring 70 points in three consecutive games and in all outscoring conference opponents 347-84.

Aurora was the best team in the most recent full season for the NACC in 2019, going 7-0 in conference to clinch the regular season title and a trip to the NCAA Division III Playoffs. The Spartans also finished 3-0 in the NACC's abbreviated spring season and have won 20 consecutive conference games dating back to 2018.

Former Packer Don Beebe returns: The Spartans are led by a name remembered fondly by many Green Bay Packer fans. Head coach Don Beebe played in the NFL for nine seasons, including in 1996-97 for the Packers, and was a member of Green Bay's Super Bowl XXXI champions team. He is especially remembered for a huge game in an overtime battle with the defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers that year, when he caught 11 passes for 220 yards in an overtime victory on a Monday night. Beebe has quickly built Aurora into a power in the NACC, posting an 18-4 record in his first three seasons.

Senior Day: A total of 18 members of the Lakeland football team will be honored before Saturday's game as they play the final home game of their collegiate careers. This year's group of seniors is a unique one in that it has two different groups-the fourth-year seniors plus seven fifth-year seniors, who all were seniors in the spring 2020-21 season but chose to take advantage of an extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifth-year seniors include Ezekiel Combs, Shazon Crutcher, Brice Kensey, Charl'Tez Nunnery, Mason Prunick, Larry Rivers and Trevion Smith. Fourth-year seniors include Rayshion Brumfield, Damarious Brown, Andrew Cardiel, Andrew Colley, Zach Cotton, Avery Luckett, Joseph Pegues, Jaylen Rido, Elijah Santiago, D.J. Tomlinson and Otis Watts. In addition, Lakeland also will recognize Adam Skaletski, who graduated in the spring after playing his final season in the spring but going without a Senior Day ceremony.

Clash of offensive powerhouses: By almost any measure, Saturday's game will feature two of the top offenses in NCAA Division III, with both ranking in the top 10 in total yards, in the top 12 in scoring offense and in the top 20 in first downs gained. Lakeland has a slight edge in total offense where it ranks 7th with 508.0 yards per game and also is 11th in scoring offense (46.9 ppg) and in the top 30 in both passing offense (26th, 284.4 ypg) and rushing offense (27th, 223.6 ypg). 

Aurora is right behind the Muskies in total offense in 8th with 504.9 ypg, just ahead in scoring (9th, 48.4 ppg), and like Lakeland also has potent rushing (24th, 229.1 ypg) and passing (31st, 275.8 ypg) units. And while Lakeland's Larry Rivers lead Division III in total touchdowns rushing and receiving with 20 and total points scored (120), Aurora quarterback Gavin Zimbelman is second nationally in touchdown passes (32).

Domangue closing in on record: Sophomore place kicker Peyton Domangue kicked six more extra points against Eureka to bring his total to 43 point-after-touchdown kicks this year. That is the second-most PATs made in a season in school history and is four shy  of tying Peter Cebulka's record of 47 successful point after kicks made in 1996.

The Larry Report: Lakeland running back Larry Rivers continues to lead Division III in touchdowns scored this season with 20 total, and he is in line to break two of the Muskies' longest-standing football records, ones that have stood for 54 years. Rivers is one TD shy of tying former NFL veteran Pat Curran's single-season record of 21 touchdowns scored in 1967 and again in 1968. Rivers also has 120 points scored on the season and is eight points short of Curran's record of 128 points scored in 1967. The senior running back also is 180 yards short of his Lakeland single-season record of 1,375 rushing yards in a season.