Pioneers roll past Lakeland

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneers rolled past visiting Lakeland University 49-12 Saturday night in Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.

The Pioneers, who came from behind in their first game and fell last week in a similar comeback situation,  raced out Saturday to score first and hold the lead for the complete game. Colin Schuetz connected for first-period touchdown passes with Mark Johnson for 15 yards and Donald Allender for a 31-yard bomb. Lakeland, the three-time Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference champions, struck back and found the end zone after Johnson's touchdown, but an unsuccessful two-point conversion left the Pioneers in the lead 7-6. 

Freshman Evan Gates rushed for 77 yards in the evening and hauled in the next three Pioneer touchdowns before Lakeland's Logan O'Neill found Christian Chatman for a 22-yard reception narrowing the Pioneers' lead to 42-12 early in the fourth period. Brett Geisz's five-yard rush into the end zone would improve the Pioneer's advantage to 49-12 with 11:57 left in the fourth.

The Pioneers gained 522 total yards, including 283 on the ground. Gates ran for 77 yards while Geisz rushed for 58 yards and Ke'Von Johnson for 57 yards. Schuetz completed 13-24 for 196 yards and two scores in the home opener while Geisz completed 4-6 for 43 yards.

Donald Allender finished with six receptions and 83 yards while Tim Jansen finished with 4 for 76 yards and Johnson with 5 for 68 yards.

Nunnery threw for 107 yards and ran for 37 before falling to an injury in the third period forcing reserve Logan O'Neill to finish the night with 52 yards in all.  The Muskies, who finished with 286 yards dropped to 0-3 on the year.

On defense, Ben Mogilevsky lead with seven tackles and the Pioneers recorded four sacks for a loss of 28 yards courtesy of Clayton Becker, Cole Whalen, Shane McGrail, and Bryce Arneson. McGrail intercepted O'Neill for a 10 yard return in addition to Mike Brown intercepting Nunnery earlier in the game.

During the game, both team's coaching staffs participated in Coach to Cure MD, a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy. Connor, Kian, and Finn McVey, all diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, were honorary captains in the Saturday night match up.

UW-Platteville, 2-1, opens Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play against UW-Stevens Point next Saturday at 2 p.m. at Community Stadium at Goerke Park. The Pointer's 1-2 record includes a 21-45 loss to John Carroll and 13-16 loss to Wabash before topping Dakota State 51-28 two Saturday's ago.