ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – Roosevelt suffered its first loss of the season Saturday afternoon in a 57-28 setback against No. 20 Michigan Tech at Morris Field in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener.
The Lakers (4-1, 0-1 GLIAC) started in an early hole when their first play of the game was intercepted. Roosevelt nearly had a goal-line stand to prevent the Huskies from capitalizing, but Michigan Tech converted on fourth and goal for the early lead. The Huskies scored again late in the first quarter before Roosevelt's defense created a momentum-shifting play.
Corey Webb jumped a route and returned the interception 37 yards to the Michigan Tech 12-yard line. Tony Chahino tossed his first of four touchdown passes a few plays later, connecting with DJ Simmons Jr. for a six-yard score.
Michigan Tech responded on the next drive with a touchdown, but the Lakers were able to pin the Huskies deep in their own territory with a Feargal Mac Ceara punt. The Huskies attempted to go for it on fourth and short in their own territory, but were stuffed. Chahino capitalized with a 26-yard touchdown to Javonte McCoy to make it 21-14.
After the Huskies extended the lead to 35-14, Carl Bew jumpstarted the Lakers with a long kickoff return to set up another Chahino-Simmons touchdown connection. The duo connected again in the fourth quarter for a 35-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 42-28.
Roosevelt's defense came up with a much-needed stop and the Lakers drove down the field to potentially cut the deficit to one score. However, an ill-timed pick-six ended Roosevelt's comeback hopes.
Chahino finished with 302 yards and four touchdowns, but was sacked four times and threw three interceptions. Simmons caught seven passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns to spark the offense. Angelo Arnold had 3.5 tackles for loss among his seven stops while Stacey Terry led the way with 13 tackles and Khalil Nichols was right behind with 12 stops.
UP NEXT: The Lakers hit the road again next week to face winless Wayne State in Detroit with kickoff scheduled for noon.
