Muskies Football Moves to 2-0 For First Time Since 1998
Sept. 14, 2003
The Lakeland College Football Team defeated Carthage College 17-16 Saturday night in Kenosha to move to 2-0 for the first time since 1998. Carthage moved to 0-1 following their season opener.

The Muskies fell behind 10-0 after nine minutes of play but bounced back to tie the game at 10 before the end of the first quarter.

John Warnecke caught a 25 yard pass from Chris Smith at the 8:47 mark to give the Redmen a 7-0 lead. The drive covered 56 yards on just four plays and took just 1:57 off the clock.

Carthage scored again less than three minutes later to make it 10-0 after Don Zungis dialed it in from long range on a 47 yard field goal.

Lakeland bounced right back to make it 10-7 when quarterback Brent Luebke ran it in from 17 yards out. The six-play, 80 yard drive took 2:56 to complete and gave the Muskies a boost at just the right time.

The Muskies recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff putting them in excellent field position. Lakeland took advantage of the Carthage miscue when Matt Cook nailed a 29 yard field goal to tie the game.

Lakeland took the lead for good early in the second quarter when Luebke punched it in from three yards out to make it 17-10. The short, seven-play, 30 yard drive ate up just 2:34 on the clock. It was another drive that was started by a Carthage turnover. This time an interception by linebacker Ryan Van De Loo gave the offense another short field to work with.

Neither team scored in the third quarter as both team's defenses were tighter than a rusty screw.

"Our defense played outstanding in the second half, creating turnovers and blocking punts," said first-year head coach Jim Zebrowski. Zebrowski was referring to a blocked point by senior Erich Voigt, setting a trend of giving the Muskies great field position throughout the game.

Carthage managed to score with 5:03 to go in the fourth quarter to make it 17-16. But a missed extra point sealed their fate and sealed the win for the Muskies.

It was the second game in a row that Lakeland took advantage of a missed extra point. Last week Tri-State was ready to take the lead in the third quarter, but a missed PAT gave Lakeland the momentum they needed to pull away for an easy 30-13 victory.

Statistically speaking, Lakeland managed 253 yards of total offense and held Carthage to just 304 yards. The numbers were misleading though as Lakeland continually worked on short fields, taking advantage of five Carthage turnovers compared to Lakeland's two.

Lakeland had 17 first downs on 141 yards rushing and 112 yards passing (13 of 36). Carthage managed just 15 first downs on 145 yards rushing and 159 through the air (10 of 27).

Individually, it was a team effort with not many individuals standing out. Luebke led the rushing attack with 49 yards on 18 carries, and was followed by Jeff Taff who had 44 yards on only three touches. Taff also led the receivers with five catches for 53 yards.

Defensively, Van De Loo led the way with seven tackles and the interception, while Nick Zeck also added seven tackles, including a sack. Jacob Vigilante and Paul Daniels had the other two interceptions, with Vigilante picking up 61 return yards after the pick.

The score was probably closer than it should have been as Lakeland dropped two passes in the end zone and missed two field goals. But the outcome was all that mattered for the upbeat Muskies.

"We found a way to win in a hostile environment," said Zebrowski. "For our first road game the kids stepped up and made the plays that had to be made to win the game."

Lakeland's next game will be this Saturday when they travel to UW-Oshkosh for a 6pm kick-off. Last season the Muskies fell to the Titans 33-14 in Oshkosh.