STORM LAKE, Iowa – Lakeland University piled up 558 yards of offense and the defense shut out Buena Vista (Iowa) University in the second half as the Muskies pulled away for a 34-16 victory Saturday afternoon at Rollins Stadium.
Robby Michael (So.-Sheboygan, Wis.) threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another 129 yards as Lakeland bounced back from an ugly loss in its opener to win for the first time this season. The Muskies (1-1 overall) also wrapped up non-conference play by winning their fourth straight non-conference game, a streak dating back to 2019.
The Muskies scored first and never trailed in the game, only losing the lead briefly late in the first quarter when the Beavers (0-2 overall) tied the score at 7-7. Lakeland built a 19-7 lead in the second quarter, and then held Buena Vista scoreless in the second half after the hosts closed to 19-16 at the halftime break.
The Muskies scored touchdowns on three of their first four drives, going 75, 55 and 65 yards on their three scoring drives. Devon Harris (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) scored on a 22-yard run to open the scoring less than six minutes into the game, and Jesus Garcia (Fr.-El Paso, Texas) converted the extra point for an early 7-0 lead.
Buena Vista scored later in the first quarter with Keaton Huebner running it in from eight yards out, but Lakeland came right back, needing just 2 minutes, 2 seconds to go 75 yards. Michael hit Caleb Besaw (So.-Conroe, Texas) for a 15-yard touchdown with a minute left in the quarter, giving the Muskies a 13-7 lead that grew to 19-7 early in the second quarter. A quick five-play, 65-yard drive ended with Jatron Bevly (So.-Springfield, Ill.) finding a big hole right up the middle and scoring from 28 yards out.
The Beavers scored on a safety after a Lakeland blocked punt went through the end zone, and BVU scored with 1:12 left in the half with Eman Alaniz plunging in from a yard out to cap a 12-play, 50-yard drive. The Muskies responded early in the second half, though, going 64 yards on 11 plays on their first drive of the third quarter. The drive ended with a big conversion on 4th-and-goal from the 8, with Michael hitting Harris on a swing pass out of the backfield. Harris made one tackler miss, then beat the remaining nearest defenders to the pylon for the touchdown and a 26-16 lead.
The Lakeland defense stepped up in the second half, and particularly in the fourth quarter, bending but not breaking in holding twice on Buena Vista drives into Muskies territory. The Beavers got as far as the LU 1 on their first drive of the quarter, but on 4th-and-goal from the 2, Charles Kobe (Sr.-Glendale, Wis.) pressured quarterback Zach Herrera and Tre Fisher could only dive to catch his pass at the 1-yard line, short of the end zone.
The Beavers then drove down to the Lakeland 11 on their next possession, but a field goal attempt went awry with a bad snap leading to a desperation pass to the end zone falling incomplete. Another BVU drive ended with freshman Andrew Redditt (New Orleans, La.) sacking Herrera on fourth down, and the Muskies wrapped it up when Michael was flushed out of the pocket on third down and found a streaking Xaviar Thomas (Sr.-Chicago Heights, Ill.) in the end zone for a 38-yard touchdown. Hassan Rivers (Fr.-Dearborn Heights, Mich.) ran in the two-point conversion for the game's final points.
Michael finished completing 21 of 32 passes for 299 yards and also rushed 22 times for 129 yards. Bevly also rushed 16 times for 80 yards, following up his school-record 343 yards rushing against Buena Vista in the teams' meeting last year, and Harris added 51 yards rushing.
Besaw caught six passes for 100 yards, his first collegiate 100-yard receiving day. Kolby Cohen (Jr.-Missouri City, Texas) also caught four passes for 58 yards. The Muskies gained 299 yards through the air and another 259 yards on the ground, moving the ball for 26 first downs in all.
Matt Glogowski (Jr.-San Diego, Calif.) led the defense with a career-high nine tackles. Kobe added five tackles including two tackles for loss plus a fourth quarter interception and Jake Leclaire (Sr.-Stuart, Fla.) also posted five tackles.
Herrera completed 11 of 24 passes for Buena Vista for 134 yards. The Beavers gained 347 yards of offense but scored on just two of five trips into the red zone, and the Muskies avenged a 41-34 loss to BVU last season when the Beavers came back from a 34-10 deficit including 24 points in the fourth quarter.
Lakeland now gets ready for its Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener and also its biggest rivalry game when it hosts Concordia University Wisconsin next Saturday at 1 p.m. in the 32nd annual Cheese Bowl Game. Game time at Taylor Field will be 1 p.m.
Muskies bounce back to take down Beavers on the road
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20230909_nhrl.xml
2023
Lakeland
34
Buena Vista
16
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeland (1-1) | 13 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 34 |
| Buena Vista (0-2) | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Sep 09, 2023