ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Roosevelt put up a strong stand in the second half against the defending NCAA Division III national champions, but ultimately fell 41-7 to North Central (Ill.) in the season opener Saturday afternoon at Morris Field.

The Cardinals wasted no time in scoring on the Lakers defense with a seven-play, 69-yard drive to take the early lead on the opening possession. It looked like Roosevelt (0-1) was poised to match the Cardinals as it methodically drove down the field into North Central territory. However, Luke Wilson's pass over the middle was tipped and intercepted.

North Central would score on all five possessions it had in the first half to take a 34-0 lead at halftime despite some bold risks from the Lakers. Roosevelt would be stopped on downs three times after the opening-drive pick before it took a knee on the final drive to lead into halftime. Justin Olokun was stopped short on a fake punt attempt on the second drive of the game, and Ethan Cano was tackled short of the line on the third drive. A muffed punt snap ended the fourth drive for the Lakers, setting up the Cardinals in Roosevelt territory each time.

Roosevelt's defense accepted the challenge in the second half and stopped North Central four times inside the 10 to force a turnover on downs. The Lakers then stopped the Cardinals on fourth down on the subsequent drive after a short punt set up North Central on Roosevelt's half of the field. The Cardinals finally broke through on an 11-play, 60-yard drive that bridged the third and fourth quarters.

Then the magic happened for Roosevelt with backup quarterback Carson Budke taking over. His only completion of the day was a 6-yard touchdown pass to Alex Tran that capped off an eight-play, 69-yard scoring drive for the Lakers. The drive was aided by a pair of North Central penalties as well as back-to-back 10-plus yard runs from Tyler Tenner. The senior running back struggled to find much room to run all day, but finished with 35 yards on 12 carries.

As a team, Roosevelt ran for just 57 yards on 21 rushing attempts, but were able to keep its quarterbacks mostly clean until a late sack of Wilson on fourth and long. The Lakers completed just 17 of 29 passes for 113 yards, but did win the penalty battle by committing just three infractions in the game.

The Lakers return to action next week with their first NAIA contest of the season against Siena Heights at 2 p.m. back at Morris Field.