Lakeland College

Muskies shut out by Mount St. Joseph

Athletics - posted on 9/13/2008

SHEBOYGAN - A workman-like effort from start to finish by the defense was not enough for the Lakeland football team, as the Muskies suffered a 20-0 setback to the College of Mount St. Joseph on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field.

Trailing 7-0 early in the third quarter, the Muskies (0-2) took advantage of great field position resulting from a shanked punt by the Lions and drove the ball down to the Mount's 9-yard line. However, on third and five, Lakeland quarterback Billy Hughes (Brooksville, Fla.) was under pressure and sailed a pass right into the arms of the Lions' Nick Yahl, who returned it to the 20-yard line.

The Lions (2-0) turned the interception into a five-play, 80-yard drive that ended in an 8-yard touchdown run by Mount quarterback Vince Palmer. The drive provided a huge momentum swing for the Lions, who took a 13-0 lead with 6:09 left in the quarter.

"They had one long drive, when we threw that interception deep in our territory," Lakeland head coach Kevin Doherty said. "They turned that into a real long drive. I think that wore us down a little bit."

The Muskie defense was stellar, forcing the Mount to punt seven times as well as picking off two passes by Palmer. However, the offense was unable to find the end zone and was shut out for the second consecutive week. The Muskies posted just 131 yards of total offense, turned the ball over seven times and were forced to punt eight times.

"I was real happy with how our defense played, they were very physical," Doherty said. "Offensively, we've just got to get something going. We have too many mental breakdowns and too many physical breakdowns. We finally get something going and then it turns around and we have a penalty, a hold, a missed assignment or a poor read.

"Our offense is just beating itself right now. We're young … we've got to be patient and keep working hard to get things straightened out."

Senior linebacker Brent Miller (Menasha) compiled 14 tackles (6 solo), two sacks and an interception. John Wagner (Kewaunee), also a senior linebacker, had 18 total tackles, and junior Isiah Calhoun (Pontiac, Mich.) notched a pick and three pass breakups.