Larry Rivers (Jr.-Dearborn Heights, Mich.) and Dezmon Eddie (Sr.-Alexandria, La.) continued climbing the school's rushing charts with 100-yard performances, the defense pitched a shutout and Lakeland University took back the Cheese Bowl trophy in resounding fashion with a 44-0 win over Concordia University Wisconsin Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field.
It was a happy Homecoming as the Muskies took advantage of four Falcon turnovers in the first quarter and five in the game in all, turning an expected close game into a rout early. Lakeland won the 28th annual Cheese Bowl contest and the game's traveling trophy after losing it to Concordia last year, and also bounced back strong after a loss in its Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener last week.
The Muskies defense was punishing from the start on a brisk fall day. Concordia lost fumbles on five of its first six possessions and five of its first 13 offensive plays, including four forced fumbles by strips or jarring hits.
Lakeland (2-3 overall, 1-1 NACC) recovered a turnover on the second offensive play of the game when Falcon quarterback James Linn fumbled in the backfield and McNemon Vincent (Jr.-Vernon Hills, Ill.) recovered at the CUW 21-yard line, the first of a host of big plays by the defensive end in the game.
The Muskies scored five plays later when Charl'Tez Nunnery (Jr.-Liberty, Miss.) threw a 2-yard pass to Eddie for a touchdown, and Lakeland received the ball back on the second play of the Falcons' next series when Trevion Smith (Jr.-Griffin, Ga.) stripped Linn and Vincent recovered again at the CUW 28.
A fumble deep in Falcon territory temporarily slowed the Muskies' momentum, but a Concordia punt was followed by Lakeland's biggest offensive strike of the game when Nunnery hit a wide-open Jaylen Rido (So.-Houston, Texas) down the field and the sophomore took it 73 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
The Falcons appeared to have something brewing after De'Shawn Ford returned the ensuing kickoff 35 yards to midfield, but Ford fumbled on the very next offensive play at the end of an 11-yard run, as Johnathan Hagerty (Jr.-Brookville, Ind.) dislodged the ball with a big hit and Smith recovered. Lakeland then drove 60 yards in 10 plays, with Nunnery taking it in from a yard out to make it 20-0.
Concordia fumbled yet again on the second play of its next series, as Jerry Stokes (Sr.-Missouri City, Texas) stripped Linn and Andrew Cardiel (So.-Needville, Texas) recovered, again in Falcon territory. Nunnery punched it in from the 1 again on 3rd-and-goal, and Lakeland led 27-0 just 28 seconds into the second quarter.
Lakeland left little doubt of the game's outcome when it tacked on another touchdown late in the half. An 11-play, 70-yard drive included 56 yards on the ground, the final 15 coming when Eddie scampered around end for a touchdown and a 34-0 lead.
The Muskies cruised the rest of the way, holding the ball for better than 20 minutes in the second half and also limiting the Falcons to just 51 yards of offense over the final 30 minutes. Eddie added his third touchdown of the game with a nine-yard score late in the third quarter and Andrew Colley (So.-Gadsden, Ala.) booted a 39-yard field goal in the fourth for his first collegiate field goal make.
Lakeland limited Concordia to 193 yards of offense for the game, including just 6 of 21 passing for 66 yards, and posted its first shutout since topping Wisconsin Lutheran College 48-0 on Oct. 21, 2017. Vincent finished with three tackles for loss among his four tackles total, including two sacks plus two fumble recoveries. Washington Vivanco (Sr.-Houston, Texas) also forced a fumble and recovered it on a second quarter sack.
Rivers rushed 26 times for 132 yards and became the eighth player in school history to go over the 2,000-yard mark for a career. Eddie also carried 17 times for 113 yards and with 2,207 career yards moved into fifth on Lakeland's all-time rushing list, passing both Charley Morrissey (2,113 yards from 1963-66) and Mark Smith (2,182 yards from 1986-90).
Nunnery completed 17 of 23 passes for 213 yards and two scores, with Logan O'Neill (Sr.-Spokane Valley, Wash.) coming on in the fourth quarter and completing 4 of 5 passes for 41 yards. Christian Chatman (So.-Detroit, Mich.) caught four passes for 49 yards and Eddie added four catches for 39 yards.
Linn completed 6 of 18 passes for 66 yards for Concordia and was sacked four times. He also was the Falcons' leading rusher with 17 carries for 42 yards. Brandon Hargis finished with a pair of interceptions for CUW, which forced four Lakeland turnovers but drove inside the Muskies' red zone only once, missing a 34-yard field goal in the second quarter.