PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University football team received all 13 of its second half points from defense and special teams and the Muskies overcame offensive struggles and injuries to defeat Concordia University Chicago 17-9 Saturday at Taylor Field.
Lakeland scored the go-ahead touchdown on a fumble return and added a pair of safeties after fumbled punt snaps, enough to hold off the Cougars in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference battle. The Muskies found a way on a mostly gloomy fall afternoon and won for the third time this season, improving to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in conference.
Lakeland had its second straight subpar offensive outing, limited to 234 yards, including just 64 yards passing on a cold and windy day with occasional spits of rain. The Muskies held Concordia Chicago (0-6 overall, 0-4 NACC) to just 233 yards, though, including 62 yards passing, and took advantage of Cougar mistakes for all of their points in the game.
That included what proved to be the deciding score early in the third quarter. With the score tied at 6-6, a Muskies drive deep into CUC territory had just ended on an interception, but the Cougars' first play after the turnover from their 20 saw Jayce Levy fumble shortly after receiving the ball on a jet sweep end around. The ball bounced away from him toward the far sideline into the arms of Jayson Wilder (Sr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) at the 5, who took it into the end zone for the touchdown, and a Jesus Garcia (Fr.-El Paso, Texas) extra point kick gave Lakeland a 13-6 lead.
The Muskies scored in unusual fashion again on Concordia's next drive. The Cougars lined up to punt from their own 31, but the snap got far away from punter Troy Pratley. Lakeland's Brekkan Spens (Fr.-Burbank, Calif.) had a chance to recover the fumble in the end zone, but it squirted away from him and back to Pratley, who was then tackled by Jacob Foster (Lansing, Ill.) in the end zone for a safety, pushing the Muskies' lead to 15-6.
After gaining 176 yards in the first half, Lakeland's offense sputtered in the second half, gaining just 58 total yards, including just 41 yards the rest of the game after quarterback Robby Michael (So.-Sheboygan, Wis.) left the game early in the third quarter with an injury. The Muskies also shut down the Cougars, though, save for a long 17-play, 79-yard drive that took over nine minutes off the clock from midway through the third quarter into the fourth.
Concordia got as far as the Lakeland 14, but Shamond Oliver (So.-Phenix City, Ala.) continued a huge game by stripping running back Joron Brown on third down, and though Brown recovered the Cougars had to settle for a 35-yard field goal by Ryan Auer to close within 15-9. The Muskies' next drive quickly went backwards, but the punt by Ben Garcia (Fr.-Ladera Ranch, Calif.) hit a CUC player just past midfield, and Parker Giese (So.-West Bend, Wis.) recovered the muff to give Lakeland possession again with good field position.
Lakeland continued to struggle to move the ball, with three more drives netting not even one first down, but the defense continued to hold with three more stops. Concordia went three-and-out before punting on the first drive, while the second ended with another fumble shortly after a handoff that was recovered by Jake Leclaire (Sr.-Stuart, Fla.).
Concordia received the ball back with 4 minutes, 27 seconds left in the game, but the Muskies held again and CUC lined up to punt from its own 15. Pratley fumbled the snap, though, and chased it into the end zone, where he was tackled by Hassan Rivers (Fr.-Dearborn Heights, Mich.) for a safety giving Lakeland a 17-9 lead.
The Muskies took over with 3:02 left after the free kick, and the offense finally came up with a play to salt the game away. Lakeland had just one first down in the entire second half until Jatron Bevly (So.-Springfield, Ill.) scampered 14 yards on 3rd-and-6 for a fresh set of downs, and the Muskies were able to run the clock out from there.
The game's first half included more offense, with the teams gaining an identical 176 yards each, and most of it on the ground, but also less scoring. The first points came when Michael scored on a 15-yard run in the middle of the first quarter to finish an 11-play, 55-yard drive, but the Cougars tied it in the second when Levy took off around end and down the sideline for a 69-yard touchdown. A missed PAT for Lakeland and a bad snap on CUC's extra point attempt left the teams tied at 6-6 after 30 minutes.
The Muskies' defense finished with 13 tackles for loss in the game, as well as recovering four Concordia Chicago turnovers. Oliver led Lakeland with eight tackles, including three tackles for loss, forced a fumble and added an interception in the first quarter, leading to the Muskies' first points.
Ten different players in all were involved in at least one-half tackle for loss. Punter Ben Garcia also kicked five times for 35.4 yards, but with a long punt of 58 yards and three punts down inside the CUC 15-yard line, including two punts downed inside the 5.
Michael rushed for 79 yards on 11 attempts and completed 5 of 13 passes for 46 yards before leaving the game. Devon Harris (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) rushed 13 times for 56 yards and Bevly added 15 carries for 40 yards. Kolby Cohen (Jr.-Missouri City, Texas) caught three passes for 17 yards and Keon Willis (So.-Chicago, Ill.) added two catches for 37 yards, including a 32-yard catch and run in the first half for the Muskies' longest offensive play.
Jakob Redmond led Concordia Chicago with 83 yards rushing but completed just 6 of 19 passes for 39 yards. Brown added 72 yards rushing.
Lakeland goes on the road next week to take on Benedictine University, with kickoff in Lisle, Ill., set for 1 p.m.
Defense, special teams carry Lakeland to win over Concordia Chicago
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20231014_drx7.xml
2023
Concordia-Chicago
9
Lakeland
17
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concordia-Chicago (0-6) | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| Lakeland (3-4) | 6 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 17 |
Oct 14, 2023