Lakeland College

Win and you're in: Muskies head to Aurora for regular season finale

Athletics - posted on 11/12/2008

The Lakeland football team will shoot for its second consecutive conference title and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs this Saturday as it heads to Aurora, Ill., to take on Northern Athletics Conference front-runner Aurora University (7-1, 6-0 NAC) at 12 p.m.

The Muskies (5-4, 5-1) stand alone in second place behind the Spartans, who are unbeaten in conference play. With a win, Lakeland would share the conference championship with Aurora and secure the league's automatic bid to the NCAAs by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

One need not tell Lakeland players and coaches how big this game is.

"We can't ask for a better mentality right now, our kids are just very excited to play the game," Lakeland head coach Kevin Doherty said. "There is a lot at stake for us - a winning season, a share of the conference title, and obviously, a trip to the NCAA playoffs. I don't know that there's anything more I need to add to magnify the game anymore or to make it more meaningful to our guys."

Last week, the Muskies gave themselves a chance at the title with a 37-7 home rout over archrival Concordia Wisconsin in the annual Cheese Bowl. Lakeland stymied the conference's top rushing attack, holding the Falcons to just 25 yards on the ground.

"The game against Concordia was one of the most fun games I've ever been a part of, and most of my teammates would probably agree," junior linebacker Jamie Schramm said. "We came out and our emotions were higher than theirs. We set the tone and made some big plays on offense, special teams and defense. It's a team game, and everyone played well."

The Muskie defense has been stellar since a baffling performance at Concordia Chicago on Oct. 18, in which the unit surrendered over 500 total yards of offense en route to a 35-32 loss.

Since that game, the defense has allowed just one touchdown, when Maranatha Baptist recovered a bad snap in a punt situation on the Lakeland 1-yard line in the Nov. 1 contest.

"Ever since we lost to Concordia Chicago, we realized that no matter what, we've got to be ready, 100 percent, on every play and every down," Schramm said. "We realized we had to do the little things during the week, like getting in the weight room a few times, watching film and going hard in practice as a whole."

Offensively, Lakeland mixed it up, going to the "Wildcat" formation, which has been popularized in 2008 by the National Football League's Miami Dolphins. Doherty lined up junior wide receiver Jake Heinemeyer as the quarterback in a shotgun formation, splitting out sophomore quarterback Jake Dworak wide to one side. Heinemeyer would run himself, hand off to a running back or throw out of the formation.

Heinemeyer (Shiocton) took full advantage of the defense's confusion, running for a 57-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter while also posting 75 receiving yards and a touchdown.

"We actually put that in the week before the Rockford game," Heinemeyer said. "Coach Doherty told me we weren't going to use it unless we needed it. We put it in for the Concordia game and it worked pretty well for us."

Muskie players and coaches know they will need the same effort this week against Aurora.

"We're just going to try and stay relaxed this week, and try not to get too hyped up," Heinemeyer said. "We just have to do our business in practice. The coaches are going to tell us what to do and get us in the right places to make big plays. We just have to go out there and do it on Saturday."

The scouting report: Aurora

The Spartans enter Saturday's game following a 63-6 trouncing of Concordia Chicago. Aurora racked up 433 yards rushing while forcing six Cougar turnovers.

The NAC's top scoring offense features a pair of solid running backs in Ryne Reder, the league's leading rusher, and Jeff Fellers, who had 152 yards against Concordia Chicago.

"They're a senior-dominated offense and they've got great running backs," Doherty said. "Their quarterback can kill you both in the air and on his feet, and they've got some receivers that can make big plays and make sure catches. It just makes them a deadly offense."

The Aurora defense will pose one of the season's biggest challenges for the conference's No. 1 passing attack. The Spartans lead all of NCAA Division III in turnover margin, and are third in the nation in total defense. Aurora also boasts the top scoring defense in the NAC, surrendering a meager 13.11 points per game.

"They do a good job of creating great field position opportunities for their offense by getting turnovers on the opponent's half of the field, so it's a short field for their offense," Doherty said. "They do a good job of just playing sound, fundamental defense."

It will also be interesting to see how Aurora's pass defense, which is tied for first in the nation with 26 interceptions on the season, matches up with Lakeland's starting receivers, Heinemeyer and senior Matt Pawlyk (Marinette), who leads the conference in receiving yards (925) and receiving touchdowns (12).

Last season, the Muskies defeated the Spartans 34-3 on Nov. 3, 2007, at Lakeland.

Share This Story