The Lakeland University Muskies held a 17-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but gave up 24 unanswered points on their way to a 41-34 loss to Buena Vista. That ruined a record-setting day by freshman running back Jatron Bevly, who set a school record with 343 yards rushing and finished one away from the school record with five touchdowns.

Buena Vista took a 3-0 lead coming out of the first quarter, but Lakeland responded with two touchdowns in the second to take a 13-3 lead heading into the half. On the second possession of the second quarter for the Muskies, Bevly was handed the ball on the second play, racing up the middle for 36 yards to put the Muskies on top by four.

Just before the end of the half, the Beavers moved to the Lakeland 28 where they faced fourth and 1. Buena Vista opted to go for it, but quarterback Zach Herrera fumbled, turning the ball over on downs. Bevly gave the team a fresh set of downs when he raced 15 yards for a first down to his 46-yard line. On the next play, he burst up the middle once again, running 54 yards for a touchdown to make it a 10-point lead heading into the half.

The Muskies defense was doing the job, holding the Beavers to 128 yards in the first half, while creating two turnovers.

The Muskies came out of the locker room and got right back on the board, thanks to Bevly. On the first play of the half, he found an opening, racing 75 yards virtually untouched for his third touchdown of the day. That gave Lakeland a 17-point advantage.

The Beavers responded, moving 66 yards in just four plays on their next drive. Herrera had the big play of the drive, completing a 27-yard strike to Kendrick Banks. On second and 11 at the Lakeland 37, running back Eman Alaniz burst off tackle for 37 yards and a score.

The Muskies did a little responding of their own, scoring on their next possession. After Bevly got his team out of trouble, converting a third and five with a 23-yard run, he then went outside, racing 47 yards for his fourth touchdown of the day.

The Muskies made it a 34-10 advantage, scoring on their next possession. Bevly was an absolute machine, going to his right, then finding an opening toward his left before running 70 yards for a touchdown, his fifth of the day.

The Cougars cut the deficit to 17, as Herrera led a nine play, 82-yard drive, finishing it with a 6 yard completion to Andre Booker to make it 34-17.

That would be the score heading into the fourth quarter, but things turned quickly against the Muskies.

On their first possession of the fourth quarter, Buena Vista cut the deficit to 10, moving 48 yards on eight plays. Herrera converted a fourth and eight, finding Alaniz coming out of the backfield for a 31-yard strike.

Lakeland was forced to punt on the next possession, but quarterback Lane Sobieski got off a beautiful 63-yard pooch punt, downed at the Buena Vista 7-yard line. The Muskies had the Beavers at third and 10 at their own 18, but Herrera found a streaking Booker for 82 yards and a score to make it 34-31.

On the next Lakeland possession, Sobieski moved toward his right, looking to throw an underhand pass, but it was picked off by Trey Ortman, who returned it 21 yards before being pushed out of bounds of the Lakeland 16. Three plays later, Herrera found Dylan Laughlin for a touchdown to put Buena Vista on top for the first time since the end of the first quarter.

The Beavers added a late field-goal to extend the lead to seven, giving Lakeland the ball with 3:43 left. Robby Michael came off the bench and was able to move the ball to the Beavers 41, but his pass on fourth down fell incomplete to secure the victory for Buena Vista.

The Beavers dominated the time the possession, holding the ball for 36:11. They ran up 510 yards of total offense, including 380 through the air. Justin McMahon led the Lakeland defense with 13 tackles and Andrew Cardiel had two interceptions.

Bevly carried the ball 17 times for 343 yards and five touchdowns. His 343 yards was a school record. Sobieski completed 14 of 31 passes for 95 yards. Devin Martin had 11 catches for 57 yards.

The Lakeland Muskies (0-2) travel to Wauwatosa on Saturday to take on the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors (0-2) in the first conference game for both teams. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00.

Boxscore

by Robert Pannier