Lakeland University looks to continue its history of football excellence on Homecoming when the Muskies host Wisconsin Lutheran College Saturday afternoon 1 p.m. at John Taylor Memorial Field.
. Lakeland softball student-athlete Sam Marchant returns as the Voice of the Muskies this year and will call the play-by-play for Saturday's game on the Lakeland live stream.
*Lakeland also is offering VIP parking this year at a rate of $5/game or $20/season for the Muskies' six home games
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 Warriors have won the last three meetings, including last year's 33-31 win at Lakeland when the Muskies' rally from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit came up just short. WLC also won the previous two years at home in Miluwakee, including a 34-14 win in 2023. Before Lutheran's current streak, Lakeland had won the previous five meetings, including most recently a 56-7 win 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 have won seven of nine meetings between the teams at home in Plymouth, but the series has been closer at WLC, with Lakeland holding a 5-4 lead.
Lakeland last time out: Lost at Concordia Wisconsin 41-34 (OT) last week
The Muskies once again dropped the Cheese Bowl game in frustrating fashion, as the Falcons rallied from a 21 points down in the second half to tie and took their first and only lead of the game in overtime on the way to the win. Lakeland led 28-7 after scoring on the first drive of the third quarter, and the Muskies still had a chance to win the game in the final seconds with a field goal but the kick was blocked.
Robby Michael completed 30 of 45 passes for 419 yards and two touchdowns,
Mason Motquin had a career day with eight catches for 182 yards, and
Hassan Rivers rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
The Lakeland defense also forced four Concordia turnovers, including interceptions by
Zelmarious Banks and
Markese Collins and fumble recoveries by
Trayvonne Roberts and
Vyron Rosquist-Wallace, but the Muskies also committed four turnovers of their own, three of them deep in CUW territory and the fourth resulting in a Falcons touchdown on a bad punt snap. Concordia defeated Lakeland for the Cheese Bowl for the third straight year, with two of the games decided by a field goal and the third in overtime.
Wisconsin Lutheran last time out: Lost to St. Norbert 17-14 last week
The Warriors lost a low-scoring game at home, falling to the Green Knights by a field goal. WLC scored on a 5-yard pass from Quincy Rheams to Jakota Hase with 1:46 left in the game to draw within three but got no closer in dropping to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the NACC. Lutheran outgained SNC 294-256 and hogged the ball for nearly 36 minutes time of possession, but the Green Knights stopped WLC on downs in the fourth quarter and took advantage of short fields to score both of their touchdowns.
About the Warriors: Wisconsin Lutheran has played mostly low-scoring games this season, including allowing 17 points or less in three of five games. Lutheran also has two losses in conference play by a touchdown or less, including a 27-20 loss to Concordia Wisconsin. WLC has played four of its first five games at home but now finishes the season with four of five on the road.
Wisconsin Lutheran is coached again by Eric Treske, a WLC grad and a familiar face to Muskies football. Treske took over for longtime coach Dr. Dennis Miller in 2020 after spending seven years at Lakeland, including his last five as offensive coordinator. Treske is in his sixth season with the Warriors, and his teams showed improvement in the win column in each of his first three years and then last year posted a 7-3 record, tied for the best record in a season in program history.
Muskies on Homecoming: Homecoming has far more often than not in the past been a very good day for Lakeland football. The Muskies have a superb 62-22-3 all-time record in Homecoming games and had won 15 of their last 17 Homecoming games, including last year's 42-21 win over Benedictine. This year is the sixth time the Muskies have hosted Wisconsin Lutheran for Homecoming, and the Fish are 5-0 in those games with wins in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and most recently in 2021.
Hall of Fame Day: As part of Homecoming weekend, Lakeland will be
inducting five new members into its Athletics Hall of Fame this evening at a banquet following the football and volleyball games. Entering the hall are former footballers Corey Roberson (class of 2003) and MacArthur White (2008), men's volleyball stars Matt Martin (2007) and Joe Julkowski (2009, 2016 MAC) and softball standout Chelsea Coenen (2010). The quintet will bring Lakeland's total Hall membership to 197.
Mason's career day: Lakeland wide receiver
Mason Motquin last week had the biggest day for a Lakeland receiver in four years, with his 182 yards receiving the most since Brice Kensey caught passes for 202 yards against Rockford Nov. 13, 2021. Motquin's day is even more impressive given that his receiving yardage total for the game was more than he had in nearly a season and a half with the Muskies before last Saturday. Motquin entered last week's game with 14 career catches for 135 yards, including nine catches for 92 yards in the first four games this season.
Adding to his total: Trayvonne Roberts recovered another fumble last week against Concordia Wisconsin, his fourth fumble recovery of the season in five games. Roberts is tied for the lead in fumble recoveries in NCAA Division III with Ty Smith of Southern Virginia and Kris Williams of Heidelberg (Ohio). One measure of how impressive his and the other two players' total is: just two other players in D-III have even three fumble recoveries.
