Dezmon Eddie (Sr.-Alexandria, La.) blew past the 2,000-yard rushing mark for his career in spectacular fashion and provided one of a series of big plays for Lakeland University in a 55-28 loss to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Saturday night at Taylor Field.

Eddie broke loose for a 92-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, tied for the second-longest run from scrimmage in program history. He became the seventh player in school history to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a career, providing one of a number of highlights as the Muskies (1-2 overall) put up a fight against a recent nemesis in defeat.

UW-Platteville improved to 3-0 overall and defeated Lakeland for the fourth straight year, but the Muskies put forth perhaps their best effort against the Pioneers in that span. Lakeland scored first in the game, outgained UWP in the first half, and piled up 412 yards of offense in the loss while led by a true freshman quarterback getting his first collegiate action.

Jaidyn Wilson (Fr.-Brundidge, Ala.) got the start in place of injured starter Charl’Tez Nunnery (Jr.-Liberty, Miss.), and the freshman dazzled at times in his college debut. Wilson led the Muskies down the field on their opening drive for a score, connected on several deep balls and also rushed for a score.

Lakeland drove 72 yards in nine plays to start the game, with Wilson coolly hitting Eddie for a 13-yard touchdown over the middle on 4th-and-7 for his first collegiate touchdown pass. In the second quarter he took off for an eight-yard touchdown run to briefly draw the Muskies within 21-14, and he also connected with Brice Kensey (Jr.-New Orleans, La.) and Christian Chatman (So.-Detroit, Mich.) on bombs in the second half.

UW-Platteville also answered with its share of big plays throughout the game, allowing the Pioneers to stave off Lakeland’s challenges. The Pioneers scored four touchdowns of at least 25 yards and took advantage of Muskies’ mistakes to score quickly particularly in the first half, where four touchdown drives used a combined 15 plays.

Wyatt Thompson scored on touchdown runs of 10, 28 and 14 yards in the first quarter as Platteville built a 21-7 lead, and Colin Schuetz connected with Tyler Knigge for a 28-yard touchdown in the second quarter on the first play from scrimmage after Wilson’s rushing touchdown. The Pioneers’ drive was set up by a 45-yard kickoff return plus a penalty that set up UWP in prime field position deep in Lakeland territory.

UW-Platteville blew the game open in the third quarter with three touchdowns, including Schuetz to Donald Allender for a 35-yard score plus Tyler Reinhardt intercepting Wilson and bringing it back 25 yards for a touchdown.

The Muskies were not done, though, and drew back to within 49-28 after two huge plays in the fourth quarter. The first came when Eddie took a pitch and raced down the left sideline for a run exceeded only by Tyler Muzzy’s 97-yard run against Concordia Wisconsin in 2010. The second came when Wilson threw another high-arcing ball over the middle that Chatman ran under and took all the way for a 62-yard touchdown.

Eddie now has 2,062 yards for his career and is 51 yards from tying Charley Morrissey’s total of 2,113 yards from 1963-66 that ranks sixth-best in school history. He finished with two carries for 91 yards and also caught a team-high four passes for 42 yards. Kensey also caught three passes for 74 yards and Chatman caught two balls for 101 yards, accounting for two of the Muskies’ five plays of at least 35 yards.

Wilson completed 10 of 27 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns. Larry Rivers (Jr.-Dearborn Heights, Mich.) also rushed 16 times for 76 yards, including a 42-yard run in the first quarter that was part of a first half when Lakeland outgained UW-Platteville 194-186.

The Pioneers gained 435 yards of offense as the Muskies defense had some success in the game’s middle stages, especially in the second quarter when the visitors had to punt on three consecutive possessions. Sam Bartlett (Sr.-Racine, Wis.) had two of Lakeland’s four sacks, McNemon Vincent (Jr.-Vernon Hills, Ill.) added a sack among his two tackles for loss, and Shazon Crutcher (Jr.-Lansing, Mich.) added a fumble recovery. Ezekiel Combs (Jr.-East Point, Ga.) also added a team-high nine tackles.

Schuetz completed 22 of 30 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns for UW-Platteville. Thompson rushed for 67 yards on nine carries and Knigge caught five passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns.

Lakeland begins Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play next Saturday when it travels to take on Concordia University Chicago at 1 p.m. in River Forest, Ill.

Muskies by the Numbers:
0 -Career passes Jaidyn Wilson had thrown in college before starting against UW-Platteville Saturday
3 – Touchdowns scored by UW-Platteville in both the first and third quarters
4.7 – Average number of offensive plays on the Pioneers’ six touchdown drives in those quarters
5 – Offensive plays of at least 35 yards for the Muskies
10 – Sacks on the season for the Lakeland defense after four sacks Saturday night
14 – Fourth quarter points for Lakeland
58 – Number of seconds the Muskies held time of possession for in the fourth quarter, as two scoring drives used a combined 40 seconds
101 – Receiving yards for Christian Chatman, a career high in just two catches
245 – Yards of total offense for Wilson in his collegiate debut, including 221 yards passing plus 24 yards rushing
1,808 – Career rushing yards for Larry Rivers, who is just 192 yards from becoming the eighth Muskie in school history with 2,000 career yards
2,062 – Career rushing yards for Dez Eddie, seventh-most in Lakeland football history.

Boxscore

By Lakeland Staff

Photo Credit: Lakeland Football