Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 10/7/04 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Justin Lyman Ryan Holm (77) congratulates teammate Marcus Denham [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Chris Tourtellott Lakeland´s Jeff Wallace (21) goes up for the interception against Ben James (35) of Benedictine while Mike Gregory looks on [Click to enlarge]

Some call it cruel. Some call it domination. Either way, the Lakeland football team can tally two victories on its season, a 75-7 crushing of Benedictine on September 25, and a 48-0 polishing of Eureka this past Saturday.

In the Eureka game, the Muskies' offense was slow getting out of the gates, but held a 7-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter from a 26 yard touchdown run by sophomore Marcus Denham.

After a few exchanged possessions in the second quarter, the Muskies found the end zone again. This time it was a 13 yard pass from junior quarterback Ryan Mauiri to freshman wide receiver Eric Bayerl. That left the score at 14-0 at the half.

In sharp contrast with the first half, the Muskies screamed out of the locker room, scoring four touchdowns in the third quarter and blowing the game wide open.

The first, a two yard touchdown run by Denham, came just a minute and two seconds into the half. A little over a minute later, Mauiri found Bayerl again, this time from 26 yards out for another score.

A couple possessions later, sophomore Aaron Barrie took the ball into the end zone from 37 yards out, and on the next possession, Mauiri found senior Rodney Ellison for a 48 yard strike on the first play of the drive.


With the game well in hand, Barrie rushed in for the Muskies' final score of the afternoon from five yards out.

The Muskies totaled an astounding 657 yards of total offense, with 473 of them coming on the ground.

Barrie led the charge on the ground with 152 yards on 16 carries (nearly a 10 yard average per rush) and two touchdowns. Denham followed close behind with 122 yards on 19 rushes and two touchdowns as well.

Mauiri went 9-14 through the air for 157 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions, while also rushing for 66 yards on 13 carries.

The lone bright spot for the Red Devils was sophomore quarterback Shaun Manning, who threw for 200 yards on 11 of 29 passing.

The Muskie defense was as stingy as ever, allowing only 35 yards rushing on 25 carries. Ryan Van De Loo and Donnie Harris both tallied interceptions for Lakeland.

As staggering as the numbers racked up in the Eureka game are, the Muskies outdid themselves the previous week against Benedictine, as the 75-7 final score would indicate.

As a team, the Muskies gained 738 total yards of offense, a Division III season high, and just 85 yards short of a Division III single game record.

The 593 rushing yards was the third highest in Division III this season, and also came up just short of a national record.

Finally, the 11 rushing touchdowns the Muskies scored in the game was one away from a Division III record.

All three are believed to be Lakeland school records.

Individually in the game, Mauiri went 7-9 passing for 145 yards and one interception, while also rushing 10 times for 150 yards and a touchdown.

Barrie rushed for three touchdowns in the game, while also racking up 62 yards on 11 carries. Nick Hunter ran 10 times for 120 yards and two scores, and Denham and Travis Gervais also ran for two touchdowns.

Benedictine's lone score came on an eight yard pass from Jered Weeks to Joe Sergo.

With the two flooring victories, the Muskies sit tied atop the Illini-Badger Football Conference standings at 2-0 (3-2 overall) with Aurora, who upset Concordia (WI) this past Saturday.

The Muskies travel to Jacksonville, Illinois this weekend to face 3-1 MacMurray, and then return to Taylor Field to face Concordia on Homecoming. Both games are scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m.

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