PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Lakeland University running back Jatron Bevly (Springfield, Ill.) delivered one of the most spectacular performances in school history, but a special day ended on a dismal note as Buena Vista (Iowa) University rallied from a big deficit for a 41-34 win Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field.
Bevly set a new Lakeland single-game rushing record, exploding for 343 yards and five touchdowns on just 17 carries. The freshman scored on touchdown runs of 36, 54, 75, 47 and 70 yards in his second collegiate game, and in little more than 2 1/2 quarters of play broke the Muskies' single-game rushing record of 308 yards set by Dezmon Eddie Nov. 4, 2017 against Concordia University Chicago.
Bevly's massive day was upstaged, though, by the visiting Beavers, who stole the show with a scoring blitz over the game's final 18 minutes and change. Buena Vista scored the contest's final 31 points, including four unanswered touchdowns in a span of 10 minutes, 5 seconds from late in the third quarter to the middle of the fourth. The result was the visitors from seven hours away in Storm Lake, Iowa, taking the first-ever meeting between the schools on the gridiron, and Lakeland dropping to 0-2 overall on the season.
A game where both teams got off to a slow start received a jolt in the second quarter when Bevly scored his second touchdown of the season and first of the game. The freshman rushed just four time for 14 yards in the opener against Illinois College Sept. 1, but he exceeded that in one carry when he busted 36 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead with 11:56 left in the second quarter.
Bevly would score again late in the quarter, darting 54 yards for his second score and giving Lakeland a 13-3 lead it would take into halftime. Bevly had 12 rushes for 124 yards in the opening 30 minutes, and the Muskies defense also had forced three Beavers turnovers, including interceptions by Jake Leclaire (Jr.-Stuart, Fla.) and Andrew Cardiel (Sr.-Needville, Texas) and a fumble recovery by Charles Kobe (Jr.-Glendale, Wis.) to stop another BVU driver just before halftime.
It turned out Bevly was just getting warmed up, as on the first play of the second half he burst 75 yards through the Buena Vista defense to give the Muskies a 20-3 lead. The Beavers answered with a quick drive of four plays and 66 yards with Eman Alaniz scoring on a 37-yard run, but Lakeland needed just four plays of its own to score again, with Bevly capping a 75-yard drive running through a huge hole in the middle of the offensive line for a 47-yard touchdown.
Buena Vista (1-1 overall) was proving increasingly tough to stop in the second half as well, though, and the Beavers drove down to the Muskies 23 before Karlis Ozols (Jr.-Fond du Lac, Wis.) snuffed out a 4th-and-3 run for a one-yard loss and a turnover on downs. Lakeland faced 3rd-and-4 three plays later when Bevly was off to the races again, going 70 yards up the middle for his fifth touchdown of the game and the school single-game rushing record. The extra point by Payton LoBianco (Fr.-Berlin, Wis.) gave the Muskies a lead 34-10 with 5:42 left in the third quarter.
Bevly was down for a stretch at the conclusion of his fifth touchdown, and after making his way to the sideline his pads came off and his day was finished. The ease in which Lakeland's offense had scored coupled with the defense's performance to that point seemed to indicate that 24-point lead was safe, but Buena Vista drove 82 yards in nine plays and just 2:29 to get within 34-17 after Zach Herrera hit Andre Booker for a 6-yard touchdown.
The Beavers scored again early in the fourth quarter, when Herrera hit Alaniz out of the backfield, and the BVU running back rumbled inside the 10, then spun away from three defenders to reach the end zone and make it 34-24. Lakeland then went three-and-out for its third straight drive, and Buena Vista scored again five plays later. On 3rd-and-10 Booker caught a pass over the middle for a first down, then was spun down by a Muskies defender. Booker was able to keep his knee off the ground, though, and took off past a surprised Lakeland defense, going 82 yards in all to suddenly cut the Muskies' lead to 34-31 with still 9:03 left in the fourth quarter.
The Lakeland offense's struggles got worse on the first play of their next drive, as Trey Ortman intercepted Lane Sobieski (Sr.-Berlin, Wis.) and brought it back 21 yards to the Muskies' 16-yard line. A tiring Lakeland defense was then stung on third down again when Herrera hit Dylan Loughlin over the middle for a 16-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-10 to give BVU its first lead of the game.
The Muskies gained one first down on their next drive before three straight incomplete passes gave them 4th-and-10 deep in their own territory. A fourth-down quick kick punt attempt went awry, though, with a dropped snap resulting in a scramble and incomplete pass giving the Beavers the ball back with a second straight drive starting deep in Lakeland territory. Now with a lead, Buena Vista began taking time off the clock, and though gaining just 17 yards, BVU ran 3:28 off before Ramon Garcia kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 41-34 with 3:44 left.
Lakeland's final drive started with promise, with Robby Michael (Fr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) driving the Muskies from their 25 to the Buena Vista 35 after a trio of passes for first downs, including connections of 14 yards to Kolby Cohen (So.-Missouri City, Texas) and 11 yards to Caleb Besaw (Fr.-Conroe, Texas). A wild snap cost the Muskies 15 yards, though, a false start penalty another five, and Michael's fourth down pass fell incomplete with 1:14 left, allowing the Beavers to run out the clock.
The game finished with a combined 1,073 yards of total offense, with Lakeland holding a 563-510 edge. Buena Vista ran 98 offensive plays, though, 12 more than the Muskies, and the Beavers finished with a 36:11 to 23:49 advantage in time of possession.
Sobieski and Michael alternated at quarterback, with Sobieski completing 14 of 31 passes for 95 yards while Michael completed 10 of 17 for 73 yards. Devin Martin (So.-Conyers, Ga.) caught 11 passes for 57 yards and Besaw added four catches for 35 yards.
Justin McMahon (So.-Kyle, Texas) finished with 13 tackles and two pass breakups to lead the Lakeland defense. Leondre Townsend (Jr.-Menomonee Falls, Wis.) also made eight tackles and Vyron Roquist-Wallace (So.-Henderson, Nev.) added seven tackles and a forced fumble.
Herrera completed 21 of 47 passes for 363 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions for Buena Vista. Alaniz pounded away 37 times rushing for 128 yards.
The Muskies now get ready for their Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener next week when they travel to face Wisconsin Lutheran College for a 6 p.m. kickoff in Wauwatosa.
Bevly explodes for record but Buena Vista spoils Lakeland’s day with huge comeback
/seasons/2022/boxscores/20220910_zvcx.xml
2022
Buena Vista
41
Lakeland
34
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buena Vista (1-1) | 3 | 0 | 14 | 24 | 41 |
| Lakeland (0-2) | 0 | 13 | 21 | 0 | 34 |
Sep 10, 2022