The Carthage College football team (2-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) defeated Lakeland College (0-3), 50-34, on Saturday night, Sept. 19 at Art Keller Field in Kenosha, Wis. The game was a shootout from the opening minutes. Carthage’s Nick Merchut caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Evan Jones with only 1:22 off the clock. The Tyler Funk point-after was good for a 7-0 lead. Lakeland’s Justin Laack returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown and a 7-7 tie at 13:24. A 27-yard field goal by the Red Men’s Kurt Krause at 3:25 made it 10-7, before the Muskies scored on a 63-yard touchdown pass from Jake Dworak to Jake Heinemeyer at 1:05 for a 14-10 Lakeland edge at the end of the first period.
Each team scored a single touchdown in the second quarter. Carthage scored on a 22-yard pass from Jones to Mike Koeneman at 6:21, and the Muskies answered with a 55-yard interception return for a TD by Bryan Groshek at 2:17 for a 21-17 Lakeland lead at halftime.
Carthage out-scored Lakeland, 19-7, in the third period. The Muskies Jeremy Williams scored on a12-yard run at 10:44 before the Red Men ran off 19 unanswered points to take a 36-28 lead. Jones scored on a one-yard carry at 8:27. Jeff Koeneman caught a 29-yard TD pass from Jones at 3:38, and Merchut snagged a 24-yard scoring pass with one second remaining in the period.
Jeff Koeneman scored on an 11-yard run at 9:18 fourth quarter to bump the Red Men lead to 15 points, 43-28. Lakeland’s Dworak hooked up with Heinemeyer again for a five-yard touchdown pass at 4:09 to cut the lead to 43-34, but Carthage closed out the scoring with a 26-yard TD pass from Jones to Merchut with 28 second remaining in the game.
Carthage collected 621 total offensive yards, 130 rushing and 491 passing, while Lakeland had just 217 total yards, 63 on the ground and 154 in the air. Evan Jones completed 40 passes in 53 attempts for 446 yards and four touchdowns. Nick Merchut caught 12 passes for 187 yards and three TDs, while Jeff Koeneman snagged 12 passes for 144 yards and a TD. Mike Oratowski rushed for 68 yards on 11 carries. Carthage set six team records and six Art Keller Field marks in the game:
· 33 first downs broke a team record of 31 set against North Park in 1971 and Art Keller Field marks of 30 set by Benedictine (Ill.) in 1991 and Lakeland in 1999
· 42 team pass completions broke both Carthage and Art Keller Field records of 39 set against Wheaton (Ill.) in 2008
· 491 team passing yards broke both Carthage and Art Keller Field records of 466 yards set against Hope College in 2008
· Evan Jones’ 40 pass completions broke his own school record of 32 versus Campbell University in 2008 and broke an Art Keller record of 36 set by the Muskies’ Kevin Fix in 1999
· Evan Jones’ 446 passing yards broke his own Carthage and Art Keller records of 428 set against Hope in 2008
· Evan Jones’ 468 total yards broke his own school and Art Keller Field mark of 434 yards set against Hope in 2008
Carthage travels to Valparaiso, Ind., on Saturday, Sept. 26 to play NCAA Division I-AA Valparaiso University (1-1) in a 1 p.m. game at Brown Field.