The series between Lakeland and Wisconsin Lutheran began in 2001 and became a regular on the schedule when the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference started football in 2008. The Muskies have won the last five meetings, most recently a 56-7 win last year Sept. 18, 2021 on Homecoming. Larry Rivers set a school single-game record with six rushing touchdowns and Lakeland scored 50 points in the first half on the way to an easy win. The Muskies also won the last matchup at WLC, also last year. Lakeland rolled 62-14 on the road April 3, 2021 during the NACC's abbreviated spring season, building a 48-7 lead by halftime with six touchdowns of 36 yards or more. Wisconsin Lutheran's last win over the Muskies came almost six years ago with a 50-34 victory Oct. 22, 2016. That game was played at Sheboygan North High School's Urban Field, after Lakeland's final home games that season were moved due to its then-grass field turning to mud and becoming unplayable after a Cheese Bowl win in the rain over Concordia Wisconsin.

Lakeland last time out: Lost to Buena Vista 41-34 last week
A 34-10 lead and a record-breaking day for freshman running back Jatron Bevly turned out to not be enough for the Muskies as Buena Vista finished the game scoring 31 unanswered points to roar back from a 24-point deficit late in the third quarter. Bevly set a new school single-game rushing record with 343 yards on the ground in just over 2 1/2 quarters, breaking the former Lakeland record of 308 yards set by Dezmon Eddie in 2017. The Muskies finished the day with 395 rushing yards and 563 yards of total offense, but they would not score again after Bevly's 70-yard run with 5:42 left in the third quarter. The Beavers scored four touchdowns in a span of just over 10 minutes to take the lead and went on to win the first-ever meeting between the schools.

Wisconsin Lutheran last time out: Lost to Carroll 54-7 last week
The Warriors scored their only touchdown of the game early in the second quarter to cut the Pioneers' lead to 14-7, but Carroll scored three more touchdowns before halftime to take a 35-7 lead into the break and cruised in the second half of the non-conference game. WLC was held to 188 yards of total offense while Carroll racked up 512 yards and 34 first downs in the game.  Justin Parbs rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown and Matthew Davis completed 10 of 16 passes for 119 yards for Wisconsin Lutheran and led three different quarterbacks seeing time for the Warriors.

About the Warriors: Wisconsin Lutheran's building program continues under Eric Treske, a WLC grad and a familiar face to Muskies football who took over for longtime coach Dr. Dennis Miller after spending seven years at Lakeland, including his last five as offensive coordinator. Treske is in his second full season with the Warriors, who showed progress in the second half of last year, winning three of their final five games with the two losses coming by a combined five points. Parbs rushed for 1,119 yards last year while quarterback Nick Yockey threw for 2,354 yards and 22 touchdowns. Yockey graduated, though, and so far this year Lutheran has scored just one touchdown in each of its first two games and is averaging 218 yards of offense.

More on Bevly's big day: Jatron Bevly joined Dez Eddie as the only Lakeland backs to rush for over 300 yards in a game, and he did so largely on the basis of five explosive plays, with touchdown runs of 36, 54, 75, 47 and 70 yards. His five touchdown runs were one shy of the school record set by Larry Rivers last year, and as a result of his performance he was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week honor roll of top performances in NCAA Division III last weekend. Bevly's performance also set a new Division III record for yards per carry in a game. His 20.2 yards per rush broke the previous mark set by Oliver Jordan of  Emory & Henry (Va.) College that had stood for 24 years. Jordan rushed 16 times for 310 yards and an average of 19.4 yards per carry in 1998.

Cardiel picks off two more: Lakeland safety Andrew Cardiel intercepted two passes against Buena Vista, the second time in his career he has picked off two passes in a game. Cardiel also accomplished the feat against Wisconsin Lutheran last season. The fifth-year senior is up to eight interceptions in his career, and has intercepted at least one pass in five consecutive seasons, including in the Muskies' abbreviated 2020-21 three-game spring season.

Frequent target: Lakeland wide receiver Devin Martin already has 20 catches through two games, a number that ranks tied for second nationally in Division III. His 10 catches per game also rank tied for third in the country. The Muskies will hope for more yardage on his plays as the season goes on; so far Martin's catches have totaled just 103 yards, with most coming on quick flare out passes at or near the line of scrimmage. The sophomore caught five passes for 131 yards and four touchdowns last year, in addition to returning a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown.