KENOSHA, Wis. – Carthage College used a pair of big plays on the way to building a lead and Lakeland University was defeated 23-14 in its football season opener Friday night at Carthage's Art Keller Field.
The Firebirds took a 23-0 lead after a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown just out of halftime, and the Muskies' comeback attempt in the second half came up short. Carthage defeated Lakeland in both teams' season opener for the second straight year, this time in a much lower-scoring game after its 51-40 victory last year.
The Muskies got off to a slow start offensively, not surprising with the team breaking in a new starting quarterback after the graduation of four-year starter
Robby Michael, last year's Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Offensive Skill Position Player of the Year and the school's career record holder for total offense.
Lakeland heated up as the game went on, though, and largely controlled the second half. The Muskies finished the game outgaining the Firebirds 421-260, but saw three drives end inside the Carthage 15-yard line and also were hurt by two turnovers in the game.
The host Firebirds led 16-0 at halftime on the strength of a 64-yard touchdown run by Davion Hayes to open the scoring, a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jack DeFilippis to Mikel McGowan Jr. and a 45-yard field goal by Mugdim Kreho. Carthage broke the game open on the second half kickoff, though, with Hayes returning the kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and a 23-0 lead.
The Muskies answered with their first score of the season, driving 65 yards in 12 plays.
Carson Glosny (
Jr.-Green Bay, Wis.) hit
Caleb Besaw (
Sr.-Conroe, Texas) for a 20-yard touchdown pass on a 3rd-and-11 play, and Glosny then found
Jaden Davis (
So.-Wentzville, Mo.) for a two-point conversion to draw Lakeland within 23-8.
The Muskies defense held Carthage off the board in the second half, limiting the Firebirds to 78 yards of offense in the final 30 minutes, though the hosts with their run-first offense still made enough first downs to hold the ball for more than 17 minutes in the second half. Lakeland's offense, meanwhile, had a pair of golden chances to get closer, including driving down to the Carthage 1 late in the third quarter before Besaw was stripped of the ball just before the goal line, and Brad Filippis recovered the ball at the 1 to end the drive.
The Muskies then took over at the Carthage 44 on their next drive early in the fourth quarter and drove down to the 15 before a holding penalty and later two incomplete passes ended the threat. The Firebirds would move 39 yards in six plays on their next drive, but chewed up 5:12 off the clock. Lakeland took over with 3:46 to play and drove 70 yards in six plays, with Glosny completing a 26-yard touchdown to
Braylon Reece (
So.-Conroe, Texas), but Carthage would recover the ensuing short kick and ran out the final 1:40.
Glosny completed 25 of 43 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns, while Besaw returned after missing last year due to injury and caught 12 passes for 115 yards.
Deshawn Hampton (
Sr.-Hazel Crest, Ill.) also caught five passes for 66 yards, while
Jontae Lambert (
So.-Fort Wayne, Ind.) and
Hassan Rivers (
Sr.-Dearborn Heights, Mich.) combined for 124 yards on the ground, with Lambert gaining 83 yards on 16 carries and Rivers rushing 13 times for 41 yards.
Norrye Evans (
So.-Chicago, Ill.) paced the defense with eight tackles (five solo, three assisted) including the Muskies' lone sack.
Trayvonne Roberts (
Sr.-Lynwood, Ill.) also added eight tackles and
Austin Mulingbayan (
So.-Skokie, Ill.) added seven tackles.
Hayes rushed 20 times for 151 yards for Carthage, which ran the ball 40 times to just nine pass attempts. Firebirds quarterbacks DeFilippis and Leo Chiapetta completed 5 of 9 passes for 45 yards.
Lakeland is on the road again next week, traveling to face Greenville University on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m. in Greenville, Ill.
