ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – Roosevelt battled one of the nation's best football teams to kick off its first NCAA Division II but fell 24-14 to UW Whitewater on Saturday afternoon at Morris Field.

The Lakers (0-1) allowed a touchdown on the game's opening possession, but the defense stiffened up for the rest of the first half. The Warhawks led 7-0 at halftime and quickly doubled the lead when it hopped on a fumble in the end zone less than two minutes into the second half. UW Whitewater tacked on a field goal midway through the third quarter, but that seemed to turn the game in Roosevelt's favor.

On the second play of the Lakers' subsequent drive, Carson Budke found Keonta Nixon open over the middle, and the receiver did the rest on the 84-yard touchdown. The Warhawks returned the kickoff for a touchdown to restore a 17-point edge, but that did little to dampen the Lakers' momentum. Roosevelt drove right back down the field before turning it over on downs then forced a UW Whitewater punt.

Roosevelt nearly scored again but had a touchdown taken off the board by a penalty and missed the field goal attempt. Another Warhawks punt set up another successful Lakers drive with Budke connecting with Alex Tran for a 31-yard touchdown on fourth down.

The Lakers outgained the Warhawks 312-286 and held the ball for roughly 32 minutes in the game. Budke finished  with 270 passing yards and two touchdowns while Nixon eclipsed 100 yards receiving for the third time in his last four games with four catches for 123 yards. Jack Young Jr. returned a season-ending injury in the preseason last year to catch four passes as well for the Lakers.

Jaylen Olokun led the way for the Lakers defense with eight tackles and a sack. Ladell Allen also brought down the quarterback as one of his two tackles, and three other Lakers finished with a tackle-for-loss in the defeat.  

BEND BUT DON'T BREAK: After the Warhawks marched 92 yards on their opening drive, it was poised to be a long day for the Lakers defense. Yet, as much as UW Whitewater moved into Roosevelt territory, the Warhawks could manage just a field goal on offense the rest of the way.

On their second drive, the Lakers blanketed the Warhawks receivers on consecutive plays to force a turnover on downs deep in their own territory. Allen's sack in the second quarter came on third down and forced a field goal attempt the Warhawks pushed to the right. A well-covered screen at the end of the first half denied the Warhawks a first down and UW Whitewater missed another field goal to the right.

Excluding the opening drive, the Lakers held the Warhawks to just over four yards per play in the game. Roosevelt also was much better defending the pass as UW Whitewater completed 7 of 8 passes in the first quarter but just 5 of 13 the rest of the way.

GAME TRAN-SFORMER: Alex Tran made countless big plays for the Lakers when it mattered the most, especially late in the game. All three of his catches came in the fourth quarter, which doesn't include a reception that was wiped off the board by a penalty. But Tran also created the first big momentum shift of the game when he jumped on the bouncing ball after the Warhawks muffed a punt early in the first quarter.

SELF-INFLICTED ISSUES: Roosevelt was credited at just 1 of 4 on fourth down, but that was just half the story. The Lakers successfully converted two fourth downs that were then nullified by penalties on the Lakers. Budke found Young on a 4^th and 2 in the first quarter for a first down deep in UW Whitewater territory, but Young was called for illegal touching after he was covered at the line of scrimmage.

The most damaging came midway through the fourth quarter when Budke absorbed the blitz and dumped off a pass to Tran for what would have been a touchdown. However, an illegal shift took that touchdown off the board and kept the deficit at 17 points with the Warhawks taking over after a missed field goal.

UP NEXT: Roosevelt hits the road for the first time this season next Saturday as they travel to Indiana for a 1 p.m. kickoff against Valparaiso. It will be the first ever game for the program against an FCS/FBS opponent.