Pioneers play under the lights Saturday

The game: The University of Wisconsin-Platteville will play in their first home game of the season when they take on Lakeland University Saturday at 6 p.m. in a rematch of last year's Saturday night game in Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium. 

The lights: Saturday marks the second-ever Pioneer football game under the lights that were installed after a 2014 tornado brought down three of the four lighting fixtures that had stood since 1972. The first was last season when the Pioneers defeated Lakeland 56-22.

The records: The Pioneers bring a 1-1 record into Saturday night's game while Lakeland is 0-2. 

The coaches:Saturday's matchup features a couple of noteworthy items. Mike Emendorfer is UW-Platteville's all-time winningest coach, compiling a 98-96 record in his 20th season. Game number one—and victory number one—came in 1999, when the Pioneers rallied to beat Lakeland 20-17 in the season opener. This is the Muskies' second visit to Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium since that contest. Lakeland Coach Colin Bruton spent the 2004-06 seasons as the Pioneers' linebacker coach under Emendorfer. He joined the Muskies' staff in 2007 and became the head coach in 2015. In his four years, the Muskies are 24-11 with three straight Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference championships and NCAA III playoff appearances. Emendorfer has taken the Pioneers to their only two NCAA playoff berths in school history, in 2013 and 2016. 

The Pioneers: UW-Platteville showed its mettle by rallying 42 points in the season opener to top East Texas Baptist before falling last week to Thomas More 35-28. Sophomore quarter back Colin Schuetz has thrown for a combined 716 yards in the first two games of the season. The season highlights include the Pioneers' 32 point third quarter at ETBU to overcome a 20 point deficit. The Pioneers saw both running backs Sean Studer and Bo Babich rush for over 100 yards while the defense recorded two interceptions and two blocked punts to secure the victory.

The Pioneers are averaging 507.5  yards per game, including 358 through the air. Donald Allender (15 receptions for 253 yards) and Tim Jansen (13 recptions for 163 yards) are the Pioneers primary targets. UW-Platteville has allowed just 46.5 yards per game on the ground. Clayton Becker leads the team with 19 tackles, while Cleveland Redd follows with 17. 

The Muskies: Lakeland is the three-time defending Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference champion and preseason league favorite. The Muskies come into Saturday night after a 56-6 loss to No. 17 ranked Trine (Ind.) last weekend.  Lakeland quarterback Logan O'Neill has thrown for 161 yards with Larry Rivers leading the team on the ground with 148 yards for the season.  Jerry Stokes leads the defense with 17 tackles and is closely followed by Shazon Crutcher with 16.

Odds and ends:

• The Pioneers return to Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium for the first home game of the season after a 15 hour bus drive to East Texas Baptist and a nine hour drive to Thomas More kicked off the season.  
• Saturday is Blue Out for fans with a rock-wall for game attendees to enjoy presented by the Wisconsin National Guard.
• Saturday is also Coach to Cure MD awareness game. This is a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest national charity devoted exclusively to Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
• The ticket booth and stadium gates open at 5 p.m.
• The VIP parking lot opens at 1:30 p.m. for Pioneer fans with season Lot 10 passes.

The next game: UW-Platteville opens Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play against UW-Stevens Point next Saturday at 2 p.m. in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The Pointers 1-2 record includes falls to John Carroll and Wabash before defeating Dakota State 51-28, on Sept. 15. The Pointers will come off a bye week next Saturday in UW-Stevens Point's Pink Out game.