Lakeland College

Muskies rush to big win in front of huge Homecoming crowd

Athletics - posted on 10/9/2010

The Lakeland College football team delivered in dominating fashion for a big homecoming crowd, earning its first Northern Athletics Conference win with a 42-0 shutout over Rockford College.

It's the largest margin of victory for the Muskies (2-3, 1-1) since Oct. 27, 2007, when Lakeland beat Concordia Chicago, 56-7. Lakeland finished with 441 total yards, including 220 yard rushing, the program's biggest rushing total since the Muskies gained 221 rushing yards on Nov. 3, 2007, in a win over Aurora.

Lakeland's defense limited Rockford (0-5, 0-2) to just 50 total yards and five first downs. At halftime, Lakeland led 29-0 and was outgaining Rockford 246 to minus-4 and the Regents didn't have a first down.

"Today we did exactly what I hoped we would do," Lakeland head coach Kevin Doherty said. "We needed to establish early that this was our day, and give ourselves some confidence headed into an important stretch in the conference. We had a great turnout of former players and other alumni for homecoming, and our players were inspired to send everyone home happy."

Junior running back Jeremy Williams led the rushing attack with 78 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns, including the Muskies first two scores, while freshman Tyler Muzzy had 13 carries for 64 yards and a TD.

"We made a commitment today to run the ball and I'm really happy with the results," Lakeland head coach Kevin Doherty said. "We needed to take some pressure off our passing game and establish some consistency in our running game, and we accomplished that today."

Defensively, sophomore linebacker Bruce Romagnoli had eight tackles, include two for less, junior defensive back Tony Faller had seven tackles, a sack and an interception and senior defensive back Isiah Calhoun had two interceptions.

"I'm really pleased with where we are defensively," Doherty said. "Our defense was in control from the start because we pressured them and we didn't let them get in any type of rhythm. That's exactly what we needed today, and our guys delivered."

Lakeland senior quarterback Jake Dworak finished 14-for-26 with 221 yards, two TD passes and one interception. Senior receiver Roberto Flores caught six passes for 128 yards and a TD, while junior tight end Eric Zuelsdorf had three catches for 32 yards and a TD.

Lakeland is one of four NAC teams with a 1-1 conference record as they head to Wisconsin Lutheran next Saturday for a 1 p.m. game.

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