KENOSHA, Wis. -- The Carthage College football team (0-2) opened their 2015 home season with a disappointing 42-32 loss to Olivet College (2-0) at Art Keller Field on the campus of Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis.
 
Carthage wide receiver James Cobbs III had the first two touchdowns of the afternoon for the Red Men, as Cobbs scored on a 44-yard touchdown pass from Bobby Suchecki on Carthage's first possession for an early, 7-0, lead.
 
Following an Olivet touchdown run by quarterback, and missed extra point, Carthage marched down into the Comets' red zone when Cobbs struck again.  Cobbs went into motion before the snap and Suchecki handed off to Cobbs on a jet sweep to the left from 13-yards out where he was able to beat the Olivet secondary to the corner of the end zone.
 
Olivet closed-out the first quarter scoring 12-straight points on a Christopher Jones rushing touchdown followed by an interception on a fake punt in the end zone.   Following the Olivet pick-six, Carthage blocked the PAT and Terrance Allen returned it 98 yards for a two-point failed conversion return on the final play of the first quarter to cut the Olivet lead to 19-16.
 
Jones scored the only points of the second, as the Olivet running back finished off a 13-play, 63 yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run to give Olivet a 27-16 halftime lead.
 
Carthage struck first in the second half, as Virgil Young stepped in front of a Braden Black pass and took the interception 42-yards for a touchdown. 
 
The Red Men and Comets exchanged passing touchdowns the rest of the third quarter.
 
Facing fourth and nine from the Carthage 18, Black rolled-out to the left and threw back to the wide open tight end Dominik Givens, who was able to cruise into the end zone.
 
After a Greg Money forced fumble on the next Olivet possession, Suchecki found Cobbs on the Red Men's first play for a 47-yard touchdown and two-point conversion would once again cut it the deficit to three at 35-32.
 
Unfortunately, it would be the closest the Red Men would get, as Olivet would tack-on another fourth down touchdown as the Comets faced fourth and goal from the nine to closeout the scoring at 42-32.

"[Olivet] is a good football team," said Head Coach Mike Yeager, "They played well, they've got a good offense, and to me, it came down to money down third and fourth down situations … They were able to convert, especially on fourth downs to keep the drives going … We weren't good enough on money down on offense, but you know we were better on all three phases in terms of the team so it gave us a chance to be in the ballgame this week … You've gotta win those money down situations. We emphasize those each and every day all week long. We basically do a third down period every single day because you've got to have the ability on a defense to get off the field and on offense you've got to keep those drives alive … It felt like that was the difference, they kept those drives alive. We had the chance to get off the field a couple times defensively and they just made the plays."
 
Cobbs connected on four receptions, totaling 120 yards and two touchdowns. Cobbs also rushed the ball once for 13 yards and scored a touchdown on the play. Suchecki completed 8-or-26 passes for 145 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
 
Lafayette McGary earned 7 carries for 56 yards while London Townsend recorded 14 carries for 35 yeads. Tristan Peterson returned the ball seventh times for a total of 153 yards, with 56 yards as his longest run of the game.
 
Fred McCann punted the ball 3 times for a total of 124 yards and averaged 41.3 yards per punt. Nick Anzelmo also punted the ball twice for a total of 79 yards.

"Lafayette McGary is a physical football player, he runs north and south," Yeager stated, "If you're going to be a power running football team you want guys like that and he had a really good day today … Sucheki did some bad thigs and he did some good things. We'll see the film. It's hard until you watch the film … IT seems like he did some really nice things out there. We'll evaluate, just like we evaluate every single position. I think the quarterback gets the most press and people pay attention to it the most, but it's the same as every other position out there in terms of evaluation to find the right guys to put us in the best position to win."
 
Carthage passed for 166 yards, compared to Olivet's 228. Olivet also dominated the rushing game with 240 yards, in comparison to the Red Men's 137.
 
The Red Men have a bye next weekend and will return to play on Sept. 26th at Lakeland College in Howards Grove, Wis. in a 1 p.m. contest.