The Carthage College football team (1-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) opened its 2013 season on Saturday, Sept. 14 by with a convincing, 52-6 win over Lakeland College (0-2) at John Taylor Field in Howards Grove, Wis.

Carthage took a 7-0 lead at 5:24 first period when quarterback A.J. Simoncelli completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Derek Bellamy to cap a nine-play, 70-yard drive. The Red Men made it a 14-0 game at 1:15 second period when Greg Money (Fr., Palatine, Ill./Fremd) intercepted a pass from Muskies quarterback Dylan Van Straten and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown. Lakeland answered with a six-play, 75-yard scoring drive in the final minute of the half. Van Straten hooked up with Michael Esiobu for a 28-yard scoring strike as time ran out in the first half, cutting the Red Men's margin to 14-6.

Midway thru the third period, the Red Men cornerback Marcus Harnett (Jr., Dolton, Ill./Thornridge) intercepted another Van Straten pass and returned it 30 yards to the Lakeland 24-yard line. That set up a six-yard touchdown run by Bellamy on the third play of the drive to give the Red Men a 21-6 edge.

The Red Men put an exclamation point on things with 31 points in the fourth quarter. Brett Bukari (Sr., Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Beverly Hills-Detroit Country Day) kicked a 32-yard field goal at 14:23 to put Carthage up, 24-6. The Red Men went on a seven-play, 66-yard scoring drive that ended at 9:00 with a six-yard pass from quarterback A.J. Simoncelli to Robert Anderson (Jr., Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech) for a 31-6 edge. Darin Ward (Fr., Fond du Lac, Wis./St. Mary's Springs) ran for a 16-yard TD at 7:57 to make it 38-6. Ward scored again at 5:17 from the one-yard line, and Carthage led, 45-6. Jonnie Evans Jr. (Fr., Kankakee, Ill./Bishop McNamara) ran it in from the five-yard line at 3:35 to close out the scoring at 52-6.

Carthage collected 401 total offensive yards, 191 yards rushing and 210 passing, while Lakeland had 224 yards, just 16 on the ground and 208 in the air. Carthage quarterback A.J. Simoncelli (So. Downers Grove, Ill./South) completed 21-of-38 passes for 210 yards. Jamahl Wright (So., Brookfield, Wis./Hartland-Arrowhead) caught 12 passes for 155 yards, and Reggie Miller (Sr., Downers Grove, Ill./South) ran for 79 yards on nine carries. Lakeland quarterback Dylan Van Straten completed 17-of-28 passes for 203 yards. Defensively, the Red Men's Marcus Harnett intercepted two passes, and Greg Money collected a team-leading 11 tackles (8 solo, 3 assisted) and picked off one pass.

Carthage travels to Waverly, Iowa, on Sept. 21 to play Wartburg College (1-1) in a 1 p.m. game at Walston-Hoover Stadium.