Lakeland College clinched a share of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference football title for the first time since 2009 and brought the Cheese Bowl trophy back home with a convincing 27-10 win over Concordia University Wisconsin Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field.
The Muskies won their sixth straight game and won the Cheese Bowl game for the first time since 2010, improving to 6-3 overall and 5-0 in the NACC. Lakeland now can wrap up the conference title outright and its first trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs since 2009 with a win next week at Benedictine (Ill.) University.
In a battle featuring one of Division III's top offenses against one of its top defenses, the Muskie defense prevailed, limiting the Falcons to 251 yards of total offense. Lakeland was even better in the second half, holding Concordia (5-4 overall, 3-2 NACC) to just 88 yards total, including -14 yards rushing, and forcing three turnovers in the final 30 minutes.
The Muskies pressured Falcon quarterback and reigning NACC Offensive Player of the Year Austin Damaschke all day, sacking him just once but finishing with seven hurries and 10 passes broken up as well as two interceptions. Damaschke came in fourth in the country in passing, but completed just 20 of 54 passes for 187 yards.
Lakeland also had standout performances on offense and special teams. A.J. Veloz (Fr.-Whiting, Ind.) was excellent on the big stage, throwing for 241 yards and three touchdowns and also rushing for a touchdown, while Kezlow Smith (Jr.-Pontiac, Mich.) caught seven passes for 127 yards and caught two of Veloz's TD passes.
All three of Veloz's touchdown passes came on fourth down plays, including a 16-yard score to Smith on 4th-and-13 midway through the second quarter in which Smith broke a tackle and raced to the end zone to give Lakeland a 13-7 lead that it would never relinquish.
Veloz also hit Smith for a 14-yard touchdown on 4th-and-9 in the first quarter to open the game's scoring, with the receiver just getting a foot down in the back of the end zone. The quarterback also scored on a two-yard sneak on the Muskies' first drive of the third quarter to cap an 11-play, 50-yard drive, and he hit Richard Micheaux (Jr.-Taylor, Mich.) on a slant on 4th-and-goal from the Concordia 8 late in the third quarter for the game's final points.
Lakeland punter Brandon Pribbernow (So.-Brillion, Wis.) also played a key role with his special teams play. Pribbernow booted six times for a 38.2 yard average, and four of his six punts pinned the Falcons inside the 15-yard line, including twice at the 3-yard line. Pribbernow also added four tackles, all on special teams.
The Muskies outgained Concordia 356-251 and held a 35:39 to 24:21 edge in time of possession. Running back Kendrick Burks (Sr.-Pontiac, Mich.) kept the Falcons honest with 35 carries for 83 yards, while Veloz completed 20 of 39 passes and also ran four times for 22 yards.
The defensive effort was a true team affair. Yaphay Harvey (Sr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) led the team with six tackles and added a forced fumble and two passes broken up. Kevyn Lewis (So.-Romulus, Mich.) added five tackles and an interception, Dajuan Darling (Fr.-Detroit, Mich.) added an interception and three passes broken up, and Daniel Zea (Sr.-Gurnee, Ill.) added a fumble recovery and one passed batted down.
The Lakeland run defense again was superb, limiting Concordia to 29 yards on 18 rush attempts. The Falcons also finished just 5-for-19 on third down.
The game was final at home for 14 Muskie seniors, including Burks, Harvey, Zea, Johnson, Dylan Busch (Green Bay, Wis.), Andy Crivellone (Oak Lawn, Ill.), Angelo Hernandez (Chicago, Ill.), Matt Hill (Iron River, Mich.), Patrick Johnson (Pontiac, Mich.), Mike Looby (McMillan, Mich.), Kurt Schneider (Green Bay, Wis.), Aaron Sherry (New Holstein, Wis.), Jacob Simonson (Greenfield, Wis.), Trevor Tanck (Baileys Harbor, Wis.) and Andrew Wagner (West Bend, Wis.).
Lakeland now leads Benedictine and Wisconsin Lutheran College by one game in the NACC standings with one regular season game left for all three teams. The Muskies can clinch the conference title outright with a win next week, while a loss to the Eagles and a Wisconsin Lutheran win over Concordia Wisconsin next week would result in a three-way tie for the title, with the Division III playoff berth going to a tiebreaker.
Muskies reclaim Cheese Bowl from Falcons, clinch share of NACC title
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20141108_249x.xml
2014
Concordia (Wis.)
10
Lakeland
27
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concordia (Wis.) (5-4) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Lakeland (6-3) | 7 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 27 |
Nov 08, 2014