Charl'Tez Nunnery (Sr.-Liberty, Miss.) rushed for three touchdowns and the Lakeland University defense shut down Concordia University Wisconsin in the second half to retain the Cheese Bowl trophy with a 19-10 win Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field.

Nunnery and Larry Rivers (Sr.-Dearborn Heights, Mich.) both rushed for over 100 yards in the game and McNemon Vincent (Sr.-Vernon Hills, Ill.) recorded four quarterback sacks, all in the second half when the Muskies held the Falcons to 47 yards of offense. Lakeland opened with a win in its abbreviated spring season, coming after the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the postponement of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference's traditional fall sports season.

The Muskies' first game in more than 17 months was a grinder, with both teams leaving opportunities on the table multiple times in the red zone. The Lakeland defense was a difference-maker, though, in particular against the run.

Including sacks, the Muskies held the Falcons to minus-8 yards rushing for the game. Even when Concordia did run by plan, it gained just 46 yards on 24 carries, averaging less than two yards per rush attempt.

Lakeland also stifled CUW on third down, with the guests converting 1 of 14 on third down. The defense also came up big when put in tough situations, as the Falcons started four drives inside the Muskies' 30 after turnovers, but came away with just seven points.

Most of the game's scoring took place in the second quarter, starting when Concordia did take advantage of a Lakeland fumble, with a 23-yard drive culminating with James Linn finding Christian Booker for a 4-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead. The Muskies came right back, needing six plays to go 66 yards, with Nunnery reading on the option, faking to Rivers before keeping and taking off through a big hole on the left side for a 42-yard touchdown.

The Falcons came back with a drive of more than six minutes that ended with Mason Kaschinske kicking a 28-yard field goal for a 10-6 lead, but Lakeland with a 13-play, 70-yard drive that ended when Nunnery took it in for a score on 4th-and-goal from the CUW 6.

The Muskies led 12-10 at halftime, and then the defense took over. Lakeland limited Concordia to seven yards in the third quarter, and the hosts gained some breathing room later in the quarter with an 11-play, 59-yard drive that ended with Nunnery running 13 yards for his third score. Peyton Domangue (Fr.-Thibodaux, La.) kicked the extra point for his first collegiate point-after-touchdown and a 19-10 lead.

The Falcons had several opportunities in the fourth quarter to draw closer. Jake Stemper missed a 36-yard field goal early in the period, and CUW also started a pair of drives inside the Muskies' 30 after interceptions, including one when Cameran Atwater intercepted a Nunnery pass into the end zone and returned it 61 yards. The two drives losta  combined 29 yards, including sacks for 16 and 12 yards by Vincent.

Lakeland outgained Concordia 430-248 for the game and featured a balanced attack with 247 rushing yards and 183 yards passing. Nunnery rushed 18 times for 132 yards and Rivers also carried 31 times for 116 yards, the two accounting for all of Lakeland's rushing yards. Nunnery also completed 19 of 38 passes for 183 yards, with Brice Kensey (Sr.-New Orleans, La.) his favorite target with a career-high 11 catches for 120 yards.

Shazon Crutcher (Sr.-Lansing, Mich.) led the Lakeland defense with 10 tackles. Ezekiel Combs (Sr.-East Point, Ga.) made seven tackles form his secondary spot and Vincent's six tackles included four sacks for a total of 44 yards. Rayshion Brumfield (Jr.-Ponchatoula, La.) also added four pass breakups.

Linn completed 20 of 40 passes for 256 yards, with Tanner Hill catching seven passes for 111 yards. Josh Turner rushed 19 times for 40 yards and Ryley McCreary led the Falcon defense with 11 tackles.

Lakeland will play the second of its three NACC North Division games next Saturday when it travels to face Rockford University for a 1 p.m. kickoff in Rockford, Ill.