The No. 3 Lindenwood football team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NAIA Football Championship Series on Saturday with a 42-14 victory over No. 20 Langston.

The Lions defense was the story of the game as they did not allow a point until midway through the fourth quarter. They forced two turnovers, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and twice in the first-half, stopped Langston on fourth-and-short plays. Those early stops by the Lindenwood defense helped the squad jump out to 21-0 halftime lead. The Lions then scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half to wrap up the contest.

As they have done almost all season, Lindenwood took the lead less than three minutes into the game and never gave it up. Lindenwood returned the opening kickoff into Langston territory and scored seven plays later when Philip Staback found Matt Angell in the endzone for a 22-yard touchdown reception. The two teams traded punts before Langston was stopped just shy of a first-down on a fake punt near midfield. Taking over in Langston territory again, Lindenwood went 10 plays and scored on a two-yard Richard Murrell run.

Langston's offense moved the ball down into Lindenwood territory next time it had it and had third-and-one at the Lindenwood 24. Logen Wright stopped a run short on third down and Tony Ritzman forced a one-yard loss on their fourth-down attempt. Lindenwood was also stopped on a fourth down play inside the Langston five, but Jovan Alexander intercepted a pass on Langston's next possession. It took Lindenwood just two plays to go 34 yards, the final 11 on a Staback pass to Roren Thomas. Langston's final drive of the first-half went inside the redzone, but its quarterback was tackled at the one yard line as the halftime horn sounded.

In the second-half, after a quick three-and-out by Langston, Lindenwood went four plays in 77 yards to go up 28-0. The two big plays were a Staback pass to Rudy Fleming for 35 yards and a Thomas 38 yard rushing touchdown. Lindenwood's defense then got into the scoring act when Alvin Davie deflected a pass and Logen Wright intercepted it and ran 29 yards for the score. After another Langston punt and a good return by Thomas, Lindenwood sealed the win with a 40-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a five-yard Staback pass to Marcel Thompson.

Langston scored twice on its final two possessions as Lindenwood emptied its bench in the fourth quarter.

Lindenwood's defense finished the game with four sacks and 12 tackles for loss. It held Langston to just 3.0 yards per rush and only 235 yards through the first three quarters. Wright finished the game with seven tackles, including one sack and two tackles for loss. He also blocked a field goal attempt and an extra point attempt. Alexander led the team with eight tackles and had two pass breakups to go along with his interception. #T. J. Prell# had three tackles for loss.

Offensively, Staback finished with 210 yards passing and had three touchdowns and no interceptions. Fleming caught five passes for 114 yards and had 48 yards on kickoff returns. Thomas had 49 yards rushing, 11 receiving and 62 on punt returns. Eight different Lions had at least 10 rushing yards in the game and nine had at least 10 yards receiving.

Langston was led by Darrion Lewis who threw for 265 yards and one touchdown, and rushed for 48. Carlos Ross had 64 rushing yards and 78 receiving yards. Tony Cotton had seven catches for 72 receiving yards and Kor'Darien Mathis had 67 receiving yards. Mark Brown led the defense with five tackles, including two for loss.

Game Notes: Lindenwood improves to 11-0 while Langston ends its season with a 7-4 mark … Philip Staback was named the Offensive Player of the Game and Logen Wright was the Defensive Player of the Game … the Lions advance to the second round of the NAIA Football Championship Series for the second straight season … Lindenwood tied a school record with its 11th straight victory … Lindenwood improves to 3-4 all-time in the NAIA playoffs, including a 2-1 mark at its home field … Lindenwood won its 18th straight game at Hunter Stadium … the 28-point margin of victory was the largest win in Lindenwood's playoff history … the pairings for the NAIA Football Championship Series quarterfinals will be announced on Saturday night.