Mustang faithful poured into the Lutheran North stadium Thursday night with enthusiasm and hopes of victory, but it was not to be.  

Their opponent, the Yale Bulldogs, also had their eyes on victory and would strike on their first offensive possession with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Gavin Smith, which included a 46-yard scamper by Smith earlier on the drive.

The rushing game continued to be effective as junior Brett Schemansky busted out for a 49-yard run. The drive capped off with a 2-yard touchdown run by Smith, his second of the game, giving Yale a 16-0 advantage midway through the second quarter.

Lutheran North's offense could not get anything going as they would go three and out on the first two drives of the game. A bright spot for the Mustangs would come from the kicking game when junior John McGrath belted a 53-yard field goal to put Lutheran North on the board, trailing 16-3 at the half. 

Fifty-eight seconds into the third quarter, Yale junior Corey Smykowski would deliver a crushing 75-yard rushing touchdown to put the Bulldogs ahead 24-3. The Mustangs would answer on the very next drive with a halfback pass by Jonah Taykowski to Travis McConnell for a gain of 31 yards, setting up a 37-yard field goal by McGrath.

As a team the Bulldogs rushed for 369 yards, lead by Gavin Smith, who finished the night with 15 carries for 94 yards and two touchdowns, pelting Lutheran North with 30-6 loss.

"Well we knew they were a smashmouth run inside team and our goal this week was to step up and stop that," said Lutheran North head coach Gary Faszholz. "We didn't do that very successfully. It's not like its all doom and gloom. We just have to get better." 

Lutheran North was led defensively by Jordan Scharich with 10.5 tackles.

The Mustangs travel on Sept. 2 to Hurley Field in Berkley to take on Royal Oak Shrine in game two of the season.