Lakeland College

Muskies unable to capitalize on first half lead, bow out 27-21 to Carthage

Athletics - posted on 9/20/2008

SHEBOYGAN - After taking a 21-12 lead into halftime, the Lakeland football team was unable to sustain the lead, surrendering 15 unanswered points to Carthage College in a 27-21 loss on a warm Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field.

The Muskies (0-3) had a chance to go ahead with under three minutes remaining in the game. After a pass interference penalty gave Lakeland a first down at the Carthage 29-yard line, Muskie sophomore quarterback Jake Dworak (Denmark) tossed three consecutive incompletions and was picked off on fourth down with just under a minute remaining.

"We moved the ball, we had a nice break there with the penalty, but we came up a little short," Lakeland head coach Kevin Doherty said. "We didn't come down with a couple catches, they were playing tight man coverage, and we also have to get first downs, so it's kind of tough to run those first down routes because they're right on us.

"We run those plays in practice and we come down with them in practice. We came down with them early in the game, too, and just didn't execute very well down the stretch."

With Lakeland leading 21-12 late in the third quarter, Carthage drove the ball deep into Muskie territory following a punt. On second and goal on the Muskies' 3-yard line, Lakeland safety Isiah Calhoun (Pontiac, Mich.) leaped in the back of the end zone and grabbed a one-handed interception to give the Muskies possession at their own 20.

However, three plays later, Dworak was picked off on a long throw down the right sideline by Carthage cornerback Danny O'Donnell. A 7-yard touchdown run by running back Jake Smith on the sixth play of the ensuing drive exterminated much of the momentum the Muskies had at the time.

On the following possession, the Muskies, clinging to a 21-19 lead early in the fourth quarter, were forced to punt following a three-and-out.

The Red Men faced a fourth-and-one from their own 39-yard line on the subsequent drive. However, Carthage quarterback Evan Jones found wide receiver Nick Merchut, who grabbed it just over the outstretched hand of Lakeland cornerback Keith Woodson (Evanston, Ill.) and took it 61 yards to pay-dirt. The Red Men then executed a 2-point conversion to push the lead to 27-21.

"The third quarter and early part of the fourth weren't real good for us," Doherty said. "I had a couple of bad calls, especially after the turnover [by Carthage] in the second half when we threw that interception right after. That was just a bad call. I take the blame for some of those things, but we've still got to execute a little bit better."

After the Red Men (2-0) took a 6-0 lead with just over six minutes left in the first quarter, the Muskie defense put the team's first points of the season on the board. Senior linebacker Brent Miller (Menasha), who also had nine tackles and a sack in the game, picked off a pass from Jones and took it 35 yards to the end zone untouched down the right side line, putting the Muskies ahead 7-6 with 53 seconds left in the first.

"They gave up some big plays, missed some tackles, but the defense scored, so that's pretty darn good," Doherty said. "[Carthage] missed some scoring opportunities because our defense kept them out of the end zone. They missed three field goals and an extra point, so those are good stops."

Lakeland took a 14-6 lead when Dworak found senior wide receiver Matt Pawlyk (Marinette) over the middle for a 17-yard touchdown, capping a five-play, 59-yard drive early in the second quarter. Dworak completed his first career touchdown in his first collegiate start.

"After the first couple plays, I felt a little nervous, but once we got into it I started calming down," Dworak said. "In the first half our offense started rolling pretty well, and I felt pretty good back there. It felt good to break that goose egg we put up in the first two games, so hopefully it means more to come."

On the day, Dworak was 20-of-43 for 283 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

"I thought he did great," Doherty said. "He was a little shaky, a little nervous early on, and he threw a couple of bad balls, but I think he settled down and found his reads. I thought he ran the huddle well, we just have to work hard next week on our clock management and fine tune the things we do."

Woodson had 14 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble to lead the Muskie defense. Pawlyk registered seven catches for 99 yards and a score, and fellow wide receiver Jake Heinemeyer picked up 85 yards on four receptions.

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