With a hard-fought battle seemingly primed to go to the wire, Lakeland University showed its mettle on both sides of the ball late in the game to take control and defeat Illinois College 28-18 Thursday night at England Stadium in the season opener for both teams.
The Muskies scored the game's final 14 points with a potent running attack plus big plays in the passing game providing the firepower to pull ahead late. The defense did the rest, shutting down the Blueboys on their final five possessions, including limiting the hosts to just three yards of offense in the final quarter.
The teams traded the lead six times in the contest, with the final lead change coming late in the third quarter. Lakeland drove 80 yards in 11 plays, and Charl'Tez Nunnery (Sr.-Liberty, Miss.) connected with freshman Kolby Cohen (Missouri City, Texas) on a slant on 3rd-and-goal for a 6-yard touchdown pass and a 21-18 lead with 2 minutes, 32 seconds left in the third period.
The two squads had traded touchdowns all night to that point, and the Blueboys' next drive started with promise as they quickly drove to near midfield. The Muskies stiffened from there, though, with defensive end Jake Leclaire (So.-Stuart, Fla.) coming up with a tackle for loss and a sack on back-to-back plays, and a fourth down pass attempt was broken up by Rayshion Brumfield (Sr.-Ponchatoula, La.), giving Lakeland the ball back at its own 49-yard line in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
The Muskies would play a field position game the rest of the way, in large part due to the defense completely stifling the hosts in the fourth quarter. Illinois College gained a net of just three yards on its final three drives, going three- or four-and-out on all three.
Lakeland took advantage midway through the final quarter, taking over at the Blueboys' 40-yard line with 7:18 left and needing five plays to score a big insurance touchdown. Nunnery provided the big spark with a 28-yard run down to the IC 12, and four plays later on 4th-and-1 he punched it in from the 3-yard line for a 28-18 lead after the extra point by Payton Domangue (So.-Thibodaux, La.), who was a perfect 4-for-4 on point-after-touchdown attempts in the game.
Illinois College would not threaten again. The Blueboys' last drive short circuited quickly after sacks by Otis Watts (Sr.-Chicago, Ill.) and Chris Daniels (So.-Cedar Grove, Wis.) for a combined loss of 19 yards leaving no choice but to punt, and Lakeland ran out the final 3:53 to clinch the win.
The teams were exceptionally evenly matched most of the first three quarters, with both teams seizing momentum at times with effective running attacks and big plays in the passing game.
Lakeland received a workhorse performance from senior running back Larry Rivers (Dearborn Heights, Mich.), who continued to add on to his school career rushing record with 177 yards on 25 carries. Rivers consistently gobbled up yardage, averaging 7.1 yards per rush and putting up his 13th career 100-yard rushing game.
The Muskies' passing game was not nearly as consistent, with Nunnery completing just 10 of 34 passes and also getting sacked five times but a stout Illinois College pass rush. Lakeland came up with several big plays through the air, though, with three of its four touchdowns coming via the pass, including a creative play to get on the board early in the second quarter.
Trailing 6-0 and facing 2nd-and-10 from the Blueboys' 24, Nunnery took the snap and rolled left before pitching back to freshman wideout Caleb Treadwell (Fr.-Country Club Hills, Ill.) coming on an end around. Treadwell then lofted a pass on the run to the end zone that Damarious Brown (Sr.-Memphis, Tenn.) made a twisting catch of just inside the right pylon for his first career touchdown catch.
Illinois College came back to take the lead 12-7, using a pair of big gains to march 76 yards in just four plays, but the Muskies came right back, scoring three plays later. Nunnery was under heavy pressure on 3rd-and-8 when he lofted a pass deep over the middle to Mason Prunick (Sr.-Sheboygan, Wis.), who was behind the defense and ran under it for a 63-yard touchdown. The 14-12 lead would hold into halftime, until the Blueboys took the second half kickoff and went 64 yards in 10 plays.
Lakeland outgained Illinois College 442-325 for the game, gaining 295 yards on the ground and 183 from the air. The Muskies also completed 8 of 20 third downs.
Nunnery passed for 159 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed 21 times for 74 yards. Prunick led the receivers with thee catches for 80 yards and Cohen added two catches for 46 yards.
Lakeland's defense held Illinois College to just 5 of 17 on third down and sacked Blueboy quarterbacks six times. The Muskies also came up with three turnovers, with Brumfield and Justin McMahon (Fr.-Kyle, Texas) both intercepting passes and Leondre Townsend (So.-Menomonee Falls, Wis.) adding a fumble recovery.
Trevion Smith (Sr.-Griffin, Ga.) led the defense with eight tackles and Karlis Ozols (So.-Fond du Lac, Wis.) added a career-high seven tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss plus one pass breakup. Watts also added a pair of sacks and was one of five to record at least one sack.
Destin Chance completed 15 of 29 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown for Illinois College. Trevor Smalls also rushed 15 times for 91 yards before leaving the game early in the third quarter due to injury.
Lakeland goes on the road again for its next non-conference game when it travels to face Anderson (Ind.) University next Saturday, Sept. 11 for a 12:30 p.m. Central time kickoff in Anderson, Ind.
Muskies take charge late, down Blueboys 28-18 in opener
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20210902_kt1m.xml
2021
Lakeland
28
Illinois College
18
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeland (1-0) | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Illinois College (0-1) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 |
Sep 02, 2021