Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Munenori Togo Two players on Lakeland's defense bring down the Maranatha ball carrier. Lakeland's defense shut out the Crusaders 19-0.

Media Credit: Munenori Togo Fromt left: Ben Stellmacher, Jeremy Williams, Aaron Kraemer, and Jake Dworak walk through the mud on Oct. 31 against Maranatha at Taylor Memorial Field.

The Muskie's defense hit their stride as they held Maranatha to 29 yards of total offense. On Halloween day the Muskies (4-4, 4-1 NAC) defeated Maranatha (0-8, 0-5 NAC) in not-so-par conditions, as they had to endure a muddy field.

With this win, the Muskies pulled into a three-way tie with Concordia Chicago and Concordia Wisconsin at the top of the NAC standings.

The Muskies scored touchdowns in each of the first three quarters leading to a 19-0 victory, but the real story was the field conditions as steady rain earlier that week made this game into a real mud bowl.

"The field conditions today were really awful, but we adjusted accordingly and did what we needed to do," Lakeland head coach Kevin Doherty said. "The defense played lights-out today. We had a few too many drops on offense but made plays when we needed to."

Doherty's comment cannot express how well the defense played. Imagine rushing the ball 27 times and coming up with negative 24 total rushing yards for the game. The Muskies shut down any rushing attempts that came from Maranatha and held them scoreless.

The Crusaders just had four first downs for the game and one of them was because of a Muskie penalty. The Muskie defense filled their stat sheets with three sacks, 48 total tackles, and a single interception.

The Muskie offense did their share as well. Junior quarterback Jake Dworak threw for 220 yards, completing just shy of half of his passing attempts. Dworak also threw two touchdowns and both went to senior wide receiver Jacob Heinemeyer.

Heinemeyer's first touchdown came in during the 9:25 mark of the first quarter; he caught a strike from Dworak for 26 yards. His second came late in the third quarter when Dworak found him for a 36 yard pass.

Sophomore running back Jeremy Williams had a good game as well, with an average of 3.1 yards per carry. Williams also ran for a touchdown seconds before the half. Williams pounded his way to the end zone from about five yards away.

The Muskie offense seemed to have been very well balanced this game as the rushing game had 40 plays and the passing game had 34 plays. The running game was just shy of the century mark as they compiled 95 net yards.

With both sides of the offense working, the Muskies had the luxury to take more risks in their play-calling and attempting to convert first downs on fourth down. The Muskies went for it on fourth down eight times but succeeded only two times.

"We probably went for it on fourth down too much, but the conditions and where we were on the field combined with how well our defense was playing led us to go for the first down more often this week," Doherty said.

As mentioned, with the win the Muskies kept their hopes alive for the season championship. So, they took the fight to Concordia Wisconsin on Nov. 7 in the annual Cheese Bowl.

The Muskies (5-4, 5-1 NAC) defeated the Falcons (4-5, 4-2 NAC) in the 18th annual Cheese Bowl. This means the awkward sculpture of a trophy remains in Muskie hands for another year.

This game had plenty of offensive peaks and valleys for the Muskies. After the first quarter, the only score on the board was a Muskie safety when a punt was snapped out of the end zone. The first quarter was very intense, as both teams played with high energy and intensity.

At the start of the second quarter the score was 2-0, but that did not last long as senior receiver Jacob Heinemeyer caught a 28 yard pass from junior quarterback Jake Dworak early in the second quarter.

The Muskies offense exploded for 21 points in the second quarter as the offense seemed to have revolved around Dworak's arm and legs. In the second quarter Dworak threw two touchdowns, including the one to Heinemeyer, and ran for one from a yard out.

Dworak might have been the "man" in the offense, but the real story was the way the defense played.

At the end of the day the Muskie defense held Concordia Wisconsin to 100 yards rushing and 104 yards passing. The defense also had three interceptions and sacked the opposing quarterback four times.

"I think the defense played near perfect," said senior defensive back Brandon Wolff. "This is our second straight year of not giving up a (defensive) touchdown."

The Falcons offense could only get three field goals and their lone touchdown was on a kickoff return for 92 yards.

With this win, the Muskies knocked down a team that coming into the game, was tied for first with the Muskies and Concordia Chicago in the NAC standings. Now, only Concordia Chicago and Lakeland remain tied going into the final game of the season.

The Muskies host Aurora next Saturday, Nov. 14 at 12 p.m. If the Muskies win against Aurora and Concordia Chicago loses, then Lakeland would win the conference title and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools