WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Carroll University football team looks to hold on to the Old Musket Trophy for one more season as the Carthage College Firebirds come to Waukesha on Saturday, October 29 at 1 PM. The Pioneers reclaimed the trophy last season for the first time in 25 years, and holding it for back-to-back seasons would be the first time Carroll has done that since 1995-1996.
TEAM DETAILS: The Pioneers currently sit 3-3 in the CCIW with a tie for fifth place. Carroll traveled down to No. 15 Wheaton College last week and surrendered a 9-61 loss to the Thunder.
Keon Miller led the team in all-purpose yards, with over 100 yards on a kickoff return.
Jaxon Case picked up 47 yards on 10 carries to keep his rushing average this season at 6.8 yards per carry, and 81.7 yards per game.
Despite rough outings against Nationally ranked programs, defensively Carroll still remains in the middle of the highly offensive powerhouse that is the CCIW. The Pioneers are holding on in the defensive rushing category, allowing just 163 yards per game on the ground to teams. This effort is led by strong individual performances by
Damon Loker and
Will Campbell, who have combined for 13 tackles for loss this season.
PREVIEWING THE FIREBIRDS: Saturday marks the 45th meeting of the two programs, dating back to the first contest back in 1961. Last season Carroll snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Firebirds dating back to 1997. It was the Pioneers' first CCIW victory over the Firebirds since Carroll's first stint in the CCIW back in 1989. Carroll won in front of a Schneider Stadium home crowd by a score of 26-17.
Keon Miller returned a kick 87-yards for Carroll's first touchdown of the game, while
Nick Legnaioli recorded his first 100-yard rushing game of his career.
Jonathan Rau finished with 13 tackles followed by six from
Jim Klem.
The Firebirds enter this week's game with a 2-4 CCIW record with wins coming over Elmhurst and North Park. Carthage is averaging 321.9 yards per game offensively but surrendering nearly 500 yards from opponents. The team's passing offense has seen work from three different quarterbacks this season but averages 227.6 yards per game through the air. Most of the passing this season has come from the hands of Cristian Beltran. Beltran has completed 51.37% of his passes with 945 yards and nine touchdowns. Alex Jarvis and Sylvere Campbell are also averaging 70 yards receiving this season. Linebacker Chris Divito averages 13.6 tackles per game to lead the CCIW.
HISTORY OF THE MUSKET:
The musket game was introduced in 1964, as the musket trophy was designed by fraternities from both campuses. The Pioneers fell in the first annual musket game, by a score of 19-20. Carroll claimed the musket for the first time in program history in 1975 and held on to it for four of the next five seasons. The Pios have lifted the musket 13 times in program history, including last season's victory for the first time since 1996. Carroll won the musket for the first time outside of the CCIW in 1994, where they maintained the trophy for three-straight seasons. Carroll would not see the musket again from 1997-2019. With a win on Saturday, Carroll would re-gain possession for back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1995-96.
SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIAL PLAYS: The kick-blocking group for the Pioneers has been on full display this season.
Helios Martinez has blocked two kicks this season, while Josh hill got a hand on the other. On the other hand,
Joshua Wilkes returned a fumbled extra-point snap over 90 yards to pick up a safety late in the fourth quarter against Wheaton last week.
HOW TO WATCH: The Pioneers and Firebirds will kick off at 1 PM. Live statistics and video will be available on gopios.com and the Pioneer Sports Network.
