APPLETON, Wis. -- Derek Micke had his biggest day in his short career as a wide receiver and Brian Janssen scored a defensive touchdown, as the Lawrence University football team downed Carroll College 27-14 in a Midwest Conference game Saturday night at the Banta Bowl.
Micke, who made the switch from cornerback to wide receiver three games ago, caught nine passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns, and Janssen, a sophomore linebacker, scored the second touchdown of his career when he returned an interception for a score.
Lawrence (4-4, 4-4 MWC) has won three in a row and four of its last five. The Vikings also won their homecoming game for the third consecutive season and pulled even at 26-26-4 in the all-time series with the Pioneers (5-4, 5-3).
The Vikings got on the board after defensive end Matt Frelich recovered Bryce Crocker's fumble at the Carroll 32-yard line with 11:05 left in the opening quarter. Quarterback Eric Aspenson, who completed 17 of 28 for 228 yards and three scores, hit Troy McGilligan for 23 yards on the next play. The Vikings later faced third-and-goal at the 1, and Aspenson flipped a short scoring pass to Matt Hintz for a 7-0 lead.
Carroll then took advantage of Aspenson's fumble later in the first quarter to even the score at 7-7. Jeremy Winter recovered Aspenson's errant pitch at the Lawrence 19, and Bryce Crocker scored from three yards out four plays later. Crocker finished with 44 carries for 213 yards and two touchdowns.
After an exchange of punts, the Vikings started at their own 16 but got a big play from Micke for a score. Facing third-and-10 at the 39, Micke took a short pass and burst through the Carroll defense for a 61-yard touchdown and a 14-7 Lawrence lead with 1:03 left in the first quarter.
The score remained that way until midway through the third quarter when Lawrence took advantage of a short punt that put the ball at the Carroll 30-yard line. On the next play, Aspenson found Micke down the right sideline where he made a spectacular catch in the end zone for a 20-7 lead.
With starting quarterback Chris Rogers knocked out of the game with a leg injury earlier in the game, the Pioneers turned to Dan Clay. On the possession after Micke's touchdown, Clay was intercepted by Janssen at the Carroll 45. He raced untouched down the right sideline for his first touchdown since he returned a fumble for a score last season against Lake Forest.
The Pioneers came right back on the ensuing possession and drove 68 yards in eight plays, all runs by Crocker, to cut the lead to 27-14. Crocker capped the drive with a 2-yard scoring run.
After several exhanges of punts, Lawrence all but sealed the win with a 12-play, 48-yard drive that consumed 7:05 on the clock. Although the drive ended with Winter intercepting an Aspenson pass and returning it to the Carroll 38, the damage had been done.
The Pioneers were now down two touchdowns and had only 4:22 left on the clock. Carroll drove all the way to the Lawrence 23 before turning the ball over on downs. Lawrence was able to run out the final 1:05 on the clock to secure their fourth win in five games.
Lawrence returns to action next Saturday when it travels to Ripon for the 107th meeting with the Red Hawks. It is the oldest college football rivalry in the state.