PLYMOUTH, Wis. –
Octavis Cherry (
Sr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) and
Caden Kleparski (
Jr.-Unity, Wis.) scored two touchdowns each and Lakeland University snapped a four-game losing streak with a 58-20 win over Eureka College Saturday afternoon at John Taylor Memorial Field.
The Muskies cruised to a 28-0 halftime lead and earned a Senior Day win on an afternoon recognizing 17 senior members of the team. Lakeland won for the first time in more than a month and for the first time at home this season, improving to 3-5 overall and 2-4 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with two games remaining in the season.
The Muskies received contributions up and down the roster on both sides of the ball in taking care of business against the winless Red Devils (0-7 overall, 0-5 NACC). Six different players scored touchdowns on offense, while the defense recovered four turnovers and sacked Eureka quarterback Tyler Lowe six times for a loss of 60 yards.
Quarterback
Carson Glosny (
Jr.-De Pere, Wis.) returned and threw two touchdown passes and rushed for another in the first half. His six-yard touchdown pass to Kleparski opened the scoring in the first quarter, coming three plays after a botched punt snap was recovered by freshman
Kenyon Smith (
St. Louis, Mo.). Glosny also rushed for an 11-yard touchdown later in the first quarter and went deep for a 77-yard touchdown to
Jaden Davis (
So.-Wentzville, Mo.) in the final seconds of the second quarter.
Kleparski added a second touchdown in the third quarter, getting his toes down just inside the back line of the end zone to haul in a 31-yard pass from
Cy Lumbano-Larson (
Jr.-San Tan Valley, Ariz.) to put Lakeland ahead 35-6. Cherry also added a pair of touchdown runs, first with a four-yard run in the second quarter to cap an 11-play, 70-yard drive, and later with a 62-yard dash down the right sideline in the final minute of the third quarter.
Hassan Rivers (
Sr.-Dearborn Heights, Mich.) also scored on a two-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and Lakeland added another touchdown early in the fourth quarter as
Zach Heitzmann (
Jr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) ran it in from 11 yards out for his first collegiate rushing touchdown. Heitzmann's score came six plays after
Robert Brown (
So.-Detroit, Mich.) notched his first interception as a Muskie and returned it 26 yards. The Muskies closed out their scoring with
McKynzee Schepp (
Sr.-Marshall, Wis.) making a 32-yard field goal.
Glosny completed 12 of 20 passes for 221 yards. Cherry rushed seven times for 91 yards, Glosny added 30 yards rushing and Heitzmann rushed for 29 yards. Kleparski caught three passes for 37 yards, Davis caught two balls for 86 yards and
Jontae Lambert (
So.-Fort Wayne, Ind.) added two catches for 58 yards.
Lakeland finished with 453 yards of offense and held Eureka to 245 yards, including just 59 yards rushing. The Red Devils did get on the board with three touchdowns in the second half as the Muskies substituted freely, with every player in uniform getting into the game including a number making their first appearances this season and some their first action as collegians. A total of 24 different players recorded at least one tackle on the defense.
Giovanni Merriweather (
Jr.-Machesney Park, Ill.) finished with a team-high 10 tackles, with 3.5 tackles for loss including 1.5 sacks.
Kenyon Peoples (
Sr.-Lansing, Ill.) added eight tackles with 3.5 TFLs including 2.5 sacks plus a fumble recovery, and
Ayden Winston (
Sr.-East Chicago, Ind.) and
Norrye Evans (
So.-Chicago, Ill.) both added sacks.
Austin Mulingbayan (
So.-Skokie, Ill.) also recovered a fumble.
The win also was the 60th career win for Lakeland head coach
Colin Bruton. He is just the second coach in Muskies football history to reach 60 wins, behind only John Thome with 79 wins from 1967-80.
Lowe completed 13 of 22 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns to lead Eureka. Damarzei Swisher caught five passes for 96 yards and a touchdown, Jeremiah Robertson rushed 13 times for 110 yards and Micah Gilcrest intercepted two passes, including returning one for a 75-yard touchdown.
Lakeland is back in action next Saturday, traveling to take on Aurora University at 1 p.m. in Montgomery, Ill.
