Muskie Football Stays Unbeaten In IBC; Torches MacMurray 53-7
Oct. 4, 2003
The Lakeland College Muskies improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Illini Badger Football Conference with an impressive 53-7 victory over MacMurray College Saturday afternoon in Sheboygan. The Highlanders fell to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the IBC.

Lakeland controlled the game from the opening minutes and stormed out to a 20-0 lead after one quarter.

On their very first possession the Muskies had a quick drive that took 2:11 off the clock and scored with 12:49 left in the quarter. Marcus Denham ran it in from 18 yards out to complete a drive that was highlighted by a 26 yard completion from quarterback Brent Luebke to tight end Jed Manders. After the failed extra point, Lakeland led 6-0.

The Muskies scored just a few minutes later - but this time it was the defense leading the way. Linbacker Ryan Van De Loo returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown to make it 12-0 after the point after attempt was blocked.

Before the quarter ended, Lakeland scored again to make it 20-0. This time Luebke punched it in from one yard out to complete a 10 play, 95 yard drive that took 4:58 to complete. The big play in this drive was a 21 yard completion to Jeff Taff.

Lakeland put the nail in the coffin before halftime by expanding their lead to 32-0. Luebke completed an 8 play, 80 yard drive with a 38 yard touchdown run to make it 26-0 with eight minutes to play in the second quarter.

Taff completed the first half scoring with a 61 yard reception from Luebke. The quick score made it 32-0 with 5:16 to go before halftime.

The third quarter started out the same way as the first half when Denham ran it in from three yards out to make it 39-0 with 5:13 to go in the period. The short run completed another long drive that covered 63 yards on 13 plays and took 7:25 to finish.

MacMurray scored their lone touchdown late in the third quarter when Nehemia Parker ran it in from one yard out to complete an eleven play, 54 yard drive to make it 39-7.

Two more touchdowns by the Muskies early in the fourth quarter completed the scoring. First, Manders caught a 14 yard pass from back-up quarterback Ryan Maiuri to complete a short, 4-play, 26 yard scoring drive. The drive took just 1:48 off the clock and was completed with 11:36 to go in the game.

Lakeland scored just 22 seconds later after the highlanders fumbled on their first play following the kickoff. Aaron Barrie ran in the next play for the Muskies from 16 yards out to make it 53-7.

Lakeland dominated the entire game and out-gained MacMurray in total offense by a whopping 344 yards (507 to 163). The Muskies had 286 yards rushing and 221 yards passing while the Highlanders managed just 89 yards rushing and 74 yards passing.

Lakeland punted just once the entire game as all phases of their game were clicking. The Muskies won the time of possession battle 33:15 to 26:45 while amassing 27 first downs to MacMurray's 13.

Individually, Denham led the Muskie ground game with 116 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Luebke added 64 more yards and two touchdowns as well on 11 carries. Luebke also completed 11 passes on 18 attempts for 209 yards and 1 touchdown. Taff led the receivers with 7 catches for 133 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Van De Loo finished with two interceptions to lead Lakeland. Johnnie Ferguson had four tackles for losses while Paul Daniels added three tackles for losses. Sam Scharinger led the defense with nine total tackles.

Lakeland's next game is this Saturday when they travel to Mequon to take on Concordia University at 1:30p.m. in an important IBC showdown.