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Lakeland and Benedictine again renew the most-played series in Muskies' history and one that dates back to when Lakeland was known as Mission House College and Benedictine was named St. Procopius College. The Muskies won last year's meeting 42-21 at home on Homecoming Oct. 5, 2024, as Robby Michael completed 23 of 28 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns, rushed for 170 yards and a score, and Caleb Besaw caught six passes for 105 yards and three touchdowns.

Prior to that win, the Eagles had won four straight in the series including a 31-6 win at home in 2023 as Lakeland was held to 149 yards of total offense and the Benedictine defense racked up eight sacks. Benedictine's four straight wins was preceded by Lakeland winning four in a row in a series that goes back to 1950, when Mission House posted a 7-0 victory on the road at St. Procopius to open what would be the Muskies' first-ever undefeated season (6-0) and one of two in school history.

Lakeland last time out: Lost to Wisconsin Lutheran 34-31 last week
The Muskies lost another heartbreaker, falling by three points or less or in overtime for the third time this season. Lakeland rallied from a 27-13 halftime deficit to go ahead 31-27 in the fourth and was driving again when an interception halted the drive. The Warriors then proceeded to go 80 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:57 left. The Muskies still had two more possessions in the last two minutes, including the last play of the game from their own 26 which nearly turned into a miraculous game-winning touchdown as Michael ran 33 yards, then threw a lateral to Caden Kleparski who ran another 37 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the WLC 4.

Michael finished with 441 yards passing and four touchdowns to four different receivers, while Kleparski had the biggest day of his career so far with nine receptions for 163 yards. Kenyon Peoples paced the defense with 4.5 tackles for loss including 2.5 sacks, and Trayvonne Roberts added 10 tackles. Lakeland lost despite outgaining Wisconsin Lutheran 606-326, racking up more yardage than an opponent for the fifth time in six games. The Muskies defense held Lutheran to a combined 21 yards in getting stops WLC's' first five drives of the second half before their go-ahead touchdown.

Benedictine last time out: Won at Eureka 56-0 Oct. 11
The Eagles were idle last week, but in their last game ran away from the Red Devils on the road in a shutout win. Dino Stephens rushed for season-best 210 yards and four touchdowns, easily outgaining Eureka all by himself as the Benedictine defense held the hosts to 139 yards of total offense and forced four turnovers, including three interceptions. The shutout win was the Eagles' second this season, and fourth time holding an opponent to 13 points or less.

About the Eagles: Benedictine shook up the NACC earlier this season when it rallied in the fourth quarter for a 36-35 win at Aurora, ending the Spartans' 46-game winning streak in conference. The Eagles were edged by Concordia Wisconsin the next week in overtime, though-one of two CUW overtime wins this season, the other against Lakeland. Benedictine has bounced back with blowout wins over Rockford and Eureka and is in second in the conference standings and 5-1 overall on the season. Benedictine is coached by Jim Schroeder, who is in his seventh year there and posted winning record each of his first five seasons before the Eagles finished 5-5 last year, including 3-5 in the NACC. Benedictine has regularly been a contender in the conference with three NCAA Division III playoff trips from 2010-14 and winning overall records in 13 of the league's first 17 seasons.

Michael still piling up numbers: Lakeland quarterback Robby Michael has thrown for over 400 yards in back-to-back games for the first time in his career and continues to rank among the NCAA Division III leaders in total offense. Michael's 393.8 yards per game is second nationally, behind only Kaleb Blaha of UW-River Falls (431.0 ypg). Michael also is sixth in points responsible for (touchdowns rushing/receiving and passing) with 138 and points responsible for/game (23.0) and now is 10th in D-III in passing yards/game (303.3).

Michael also continues to climb Lakeland's all-time lists and last week surpassed 10,000 yards of career total offense and 7,000 yards passing. Michael now has 10, 271 yards of total offense (yards rushing and passing) in his career, putting him 704 yards from tying Mark Novara's 28-year old school record for career total offense of 10,975 set from 1994-97. He also is second in career rushing yards (3,224), third in passing yards (7,047), completions (543) and attempts (1,039) and sixth in passing touchdowns (52), touchdowns scored (36) and points scored (216).

Deep and talented: Lakeland has had a number of outstanding receiving corps over the years, and this year's group is proving to be another in that long line. Caden Kleparski (456 yards), Deshawn Hampton (339), Jeremy Kobe (316) and Mason Motquin (303) all have over 300 yards receiving, and six different receivers have caught a TD pass from Michael, the aforementioned four plus Jaden Davis and Lamarious Liggins. Kleparski and Motquin have had career games in back-to-back weeks, Kobe has caught a touchdown pass in three straight games, while Hampton has become a long-distance machine with five receptions of 38 yards or more, including touchdowns of 47, 50 and 73 yards.