Biddle's Big Day Powers Lakers Past Tigers

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – All three phases scored a touchdown for Roosevelt on Saturday as the Lakers continued their quest for a Mid-States Football Association Midwest League title with a 48-24 win over Olivet Nazarene in Bourbonnais.

Joey Mahop got things started for the Lakers (5-3, 3-0 Midwest) with a 40-yard pick six late in the first quarter. Tyler Tenner gave Roosevelt the lead with a 48-yard touchdown rush before Dominic Barbosa ended the half with a bang, blocking a punt and returning it to the house to give Roosevelt the halftime lead. Carson Budke tossed four touchdown passes in the second half as the Lakers pulled away from the Tigers.

It was another slow start for Roosevelt as Olivet Nazarene took advantage to score 10 points off a pair of Lakers turnovers on the opening drives. It was the second turnover that started to shift the momentum in Roosevelt's favor. The Lakers were backed up against their own end zone after the Tigers returned an interception to the Roosevelt 3-yard line, but the Lakers held the Tigers to a field goal.

Although the Lakers failed on fourth down on their next two drives, they began to win the battle of field position. Facing third and long toward the end of the first quarter, Olivet Nazarene targeted the middle of the field and Mahop stole the pass from the Tigers receiver and raced the 40 yards to the end zone untouched.

In the middle of the second quarter, the Lakers offense sparked to life with Tenner getting back on track with a 48-yard touchdown burst. The Tigers took a brief lead again until Barbosa disrupted the game for good by coming up the middle almost unblocked with 20 seconds left in the first half. He not only blocked the punt but also had the vision to scoop it up and run the 43 yards to the end zone to lift the Lakers to a 20-17 halftime lead.

The second half belonged to Carson Budke, who finished 13 of 26 for 288 yards and four scores, and Jacob Biddle. Roosevelt's first drive of the second half ended with Budke finding Ethan Cano for a 39-yard touchdown. Mahop ended Olivet Nazarene's first second-half drive with his second interception of the day, and Budke capitalized with a six-yard connection to Biddle.

Biddle continued to make a big impact on the Lakers offense when on the second play of the next drive, he took a Budke pass 51 yards to the end zone. He finished his third-quarter hat trick of touchdowns with 54 seconds left in the quarter on a 19-yard touchdown. The junior tight end finished with three catches for the 76 yards and three touchdowns. He trailed only Keonta Nixon's six grabs for 133 yards in terms of production.

Tenner, meanwhile, went over 100 yards yet again, finishing with 135 yards on 22 carries. If you discount the three times Budke was sacked, Roosevelt ran for 179 yards on 37 attempts against the Tigers while holding Olivet Nazarene to less than two yards per carry. The Lakers stopped the Tigers 11 times behind the line of scrimmage, which averaged out to less than once every six plays Olivet Nazarene ran.

The Lakers defense was also stout the entire day, limiting the Tigers to 2 of 15 on third down and just four yards per play. Roosevelt sacked the Olivet Nazarene quarterback four times, led by 1.5 from Jordan Payne, and forced three turnovers. Jaylen Olokun, who led the Lakers with 12 tackles in the win, forced a fumble in the first quarter that Charlie Brooks recovered.

Roosevelt returns home next week to host Judson at 2 p.m. at Morris Field.