DE PERE - A 24-point onslaught in the second quarter was the impetus behind St. Norbert College's happy Homecoming with a 34-7 win over Lakeland University in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Schneider Stadium.
The Green Knights (4-2, 4-0 NACC) extended their winning streak to four games to give a sun-splashed home crowd plenty of smiles on a record-warm day of 83 degrees.
Lakeland won the coin toss and elected to receive, but the St. Norbert defense forced a three-and-out and got the ball at midfield. The Green Knights marched 50 yards in 10 plays - converting a third down and a fourth down - to score on
Jacob McVane's 3-yard plunge with 8:10 left in the opening quarter and a 7-0 lead. Both teams traded punts and Lakeland converted a fake punt before turning the ball over on downs at its own 37-yard line before the Green Knights punted.
The defense turned the momentum on the second play of the second quarter when Lakeland quarterback Carson Glosny was intercepted by
Alex Carter at the Muskies' 26-yard line, which set up a 25-yard field goal by
Tyler Juergensen for a 10-0 lead. Two scrimmage plays later, Glosny was hijacked again when
Mason Trimberger raced down the near sideline for a 26-yard pick six and a 17-0 lead. St. Norbert came up with a third takeaway just three plays later when
Aiden Gomez (pictured) batted a Glosny pass in the air and intercepted it, putting the Green Knights at the Lakeland 33. The Green Knights needed just four plays to score, taking a 24-0 lead on a McVane 2-yard run with 7:18 left before halftime.
Following a Lakeland three-and-out, St. Norbert marched 64 yards in 12 plays to score again on a 15-yard touchdown strike from
Fernando Rodriguez to
Aiden Bruce with just one minute left before halftime. The Green Knights held Lakeland to 56 yards and two first downs in the first half en route to building a 31-0 lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Green Knights tacked on another three points on a 42-yard field goal from Juergensen with 10:51 left. The Muskies registered a consolation touchdown on a Hassan Rivers touchdown with 7:10 remaining.
Lakeland held a 240-237 edge in total offense, but the Green Knights held possession for a whopping 38:46 and also had an average starting field position of their own 48-yard line.St. Norbert rushed 50 times for 186 yards, getting 53 yards from Bruce on four carries, while McVane had 50 yards and two touchdowns on 17 totes. Zack Poetzl added 40 yards on four carries.
Bennett Schmidt caught four passes for 25 yards. Rodriguez completed 9 of 16 passes for 51 yards and one touchdown.
The Muskies rushed for just 117 yards on 31 carries, while a trio of quarterbacks were 14-for-38 with 123 yards and three interceptions.
Kaydin Lujan had five tackles with two quarterback sacks, while
Cory Burton added five stops. Trimberger had four tackles with a tackle-for-loss, an interception and two passes defensed.
John Seitz,
Tommy McCauley and
Jim Feeney all hadded four tackles apiece.
Alex Carter also had an interception for the secondary.
