The Lindenwood football team got a late blocked punt by A.J. Dudley and a seven-yard touchdown run by Calen Campbell, which led the Lions to a 35-31 victory over Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday in Hunter Stadium.
 
Play of the Game
Lindenwood trailed 31-28 late in the game, but it forced the Lopers to punt on a fourth-and-one play at the Lopers 30-yard line. Dudley, one of Lindenwood's top special teams performers this year, blocked the punt which give Lindenwood the ball at the 16-yard line. Two plays later, the Lions had the lead after a Campbell touchdown run with 1:33 remaining.
 
First Quarter (Lindenwood led 14-6)

• Lindenwood took an early 14-6 lead after it scored on both of its first two possessions.
• The first was set up by a Lopers fumble which gave the Lions the ball in Lopers territory. Quarterback Najee Jackson rushed the ball in from three yards out for the score.
• After the Lopers scored a touchdown and missed the PAT, the Lions went on a 72-yard drive to go up by eight. Kai Collier caught two passes on the drive for 67 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown reception.
• The Lions fumbled on its final possession of the quarter, which would eventually lead to another Nebraska-Kearney score.

 
Second Quarter (Nebraska-Kearney led 16-14)

• The first play of the quarter was a fourth-and-goal for the Lopers, and they scored on a three-yard run.
• Lindenwood's offense continued to have turnover issues with two interceptions in the quarter.
• Nebraska-Kearney went on a 19-play drive after the first interception. That drive took 10 minutes, and included five third-down conversions. It eventually ended with a 29-yard field goal.

 
Third Quarter (Lindenwood led 28-23)

• On the first play of the second half, former quarterback and now tight end Mason Bendigo received a lateral pass, and Bendigo hit Collier for a 68-yard touchdown reception. The pass play was the longest offensive play of the season for the Lions.
• After a quick three-and-out, Lindenwood scored again when Campbell had an 18-yard touchdown run.
• After the two teams traded punt, the Lopers got within five with an 83-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a 38-yard touchdown pass play.

 
Fourth Quarter (Lindenwood won 35-31)

• A wild finish actually started late in the third quarter when the two teams had four turnovers in just over a three minute span. After the final turnover by the Lions, the Lopers took the lead with a six-yard touchdown run that capped off a nine-play, 75-yard drive.
• The Lions had to punt with just over four minutes remaining, and Nebraska-Kearney attempted to run the clock out, but came up one yard short. That led to the blocked punt by Dudley.
• Campbell rushed two straight times after the blocked punt, picking up nine and seven yards, and he found the endzone with the game-winning touchdown with 1:33 remaining.
• The Lopers had one more chance, needing 72 yards in the final 85 seconds. They picked up three first downs and got as close as the Lindenwood 18-yard line. On first down, Ricky McCoy got a tackle for a two-yard loss, and the defense forced the quarterback to throw the second-down play away. On third down, Jonathan Harris sacked the quarterback and forced a fumble. The Lopers recovered the fumble, but had to rush to get one more play off. The Hail Mary throw hit the ground, giving the Lions the win.

 
Career Statistics

• Bakari Triggs had two interceptions, giving him 10 for his career. He is just the fourth Lion with double-figure interceptions in a career.
• Calen Campbell moved up one spot to ninth in the school's career rushing list with 1,124 yards.

 
Key Team Statistics

• Nebraska-Kearney had eight more yards in the game (386-378), and it forced two more turnovers and had the ball for nearly 14 more minutes. Lindenwood averaged more yards per play though by a 1.0 mark.
• Lindenwood had a big advantage in field position, having an average starting position of its 41-yard line. The Lopers started on average at their 31-yard line.
• The Lions committed just three penalties for 25 yards, compared to six for 75 yards for Nebraska-Kearney.
• Lindenwood was 11-of-17 on third-down plays, while the Lopers were six-of-16.

 
Key Individual Statistics

• Campbell finished with 107 rushing yards, his third career game with over 100 yards, and he also scored two rushing touchdowns.
• Jackson threw for 160 yards and one touchdown, and also rushed for another score.
• Collier finished with 155 receiving yards, a new career high and his first 100-yard receiving game. He had two receiving touchdowns.
• Ace Rogers had a career-high with 19 tackles, and had 1.5 tackles for loss.
• Besides his two interceptions, Triggs also had seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and two pass breakups.
• Darrius Williams, Harris, and Antonio Davis also forced fumbles, and McCoy recovered Davis' fumble.
• Michael Crowder punted three times, and all three were inside the 20-yard line. He had a long on the day of 62.

 
Game Notes:

• Lindenwood improves to 3-6 on the season, while Nebraska-Kearney falls to 3-6.
• The Lions lead the all-time series by a 4-2 margin, including a 3-0 record at Hunter Stadium.
• Both teams were led by a first-year head coach in Lindenwood's Jed Stugart and Nebraska-Kearney's Josh Lynn.
• The game was the closest final score in the series history between the two teams.
• Lindenwood has its final road game of the season next Saturday at Missouri Southern.