Game Notes at Carthage

WAUKESHA, Wis. - This weekend, Carroll's football team will travel to Carthage College for what has been dubbed 'The Battle For The Old Musket' game. The winner of the contest will receive a Civil War musket, which has been awarded to the winning team since 1964 when the musket was originally designed by fraternities from both campuses.

Saturday's game will be the 43rd installment of 'The Battle For The Old Musket,' and the 46th meeting on the gridiron between these two teams, as the first three meetings came before 'The Old Musket' was instituted. Carthage (1-6, 1-5 CCIW) leads the all-time series 29-16, but has lost the last two meetings, with Carroll winning by an average of 27 points per game. A win this weekend would tie Carroll's longest winning streak in the series.

"I don't think there's anything better in college football than a rivalry. There's a little added intensity and focus for a game like this and our players are excited to play for The Old Musket this weekend," Carroll Head Football Coach Mike Budziszewski said. "It's a great environment to watch a game and we want to keep The Musket in Waukesha for at least one more year."

Carroll (4-3, 3-3 CCIW) is coming off a loss to #13 Wheaton College in a game where the Pioneers' explosive offense was consistently stopped for the first game all season. Despite scoring six points against the Thunder, Carroll is still averaging 39 points per game, which is fourth in the CCIW, while ranking second in the league in passing with 265.1 yards per game. In the Pios' four wins, this season, they are averaging 55.8 points per contest.

Defensively, the Pioneers are allowing 96 rushing yards per game, which is the third-lowest average in the CCIW, while also allowing just 3.1 yards per carry, which also ranks third. Carroll ranks second in the league with 24 quarterback sacks, just one shy of #1 North Central's 25 QB takedowns.

"We have a lot of things to clean up. Wheaton is a very tough team and we didn't play well against them last week, so we have a lot of things to clean up," Budziszewski said. "We have to make sure we correct some mistakes we made last week so we can make a run here at the end of the season."

Last season, Carroll retained The Old Musket for the second consecutive year with a 59-14 victory, which marked the first time in 26 years that the Pioneers won the trophy in consecutive meetings. Last year's game was one of the greatest offensive displays in program history, as Carroll out-gained the Firebirds 515-203 in total offensive yards, while holding a 27-7 edge in first downs. Quarterback Josh Raby had a career day for the Pios that afternoon, setting a school record for touchdowns responsible for, with seven. He completed 28-of-40 passes for a career-high 337 yards and three touchdowns, while also running the ball nine times for 83 yards (9.2 ypc) and four more TDs.

"We were clicking on all cylinders in every aspect of the game last year. Josh had a great day and he's going to have to do that again this year to accomplish what we want," Budziszewski said. "Our defense also played really well against Carthage last season, and we were able to capitalize on some matchups that we saw."

One key play in last year's game was a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jake Binkowski, who is just two pick-six's away from tying the school's career record of five. The Pioneers have forced 14 turnovers this season, including nine interceptions, which is tied for third in the conference, just two shy of the league-leader.

"Carthage's quarterback chucks the ball around the field a lot, but they don't get sacked very often, so we will have some opportunities to take the ball out of the air on defense," Budziszewski said. "Their defensive line is athletic, fast, and physical, so we'll have to neutralize them as quickly as we can."

One player that has Carroll's radar up is Carthage Senior Middle Linebacker Chris DeVito. The Arlington Heights, Ill. native leads the Firebirds with 82 tackles, which is 31 more than the second-highest total. He also leads the team in tackles for loss (12.5) and fumble recoveries (2), while recording two pass breakups and one quarterback hurry. He is coming off a season-high 14 tackles in last week's loss to Illinois Wesleyan.

"DeVito is a very good player who has been good for a very long time, so we'll need to make sure we put a hat on him on every play," Budziszewski said. "Carthage also does some good things on special teams, so we'll have to make sure we're on point with everything that we do."

Saturday's game will begin at 1 p.m. from Art Keller Field in Kenosha, Wis. It can be seen live at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV-1yTKFyjJ2vRSjgVP_8Pw, with the radio call available at https://waukradio.com/, via WAUK Radio 540 AM and 101 FM.