Led by a stellar defensive performance, the No. 3 Lindenwood football team turned its much anticipated showdown with No. 7 MidAmerica Nazarene into a rout as the Lions won by a 55-14 score.
The Pioneers came into the game averaging 51.0 points and 502.7 offensive yards a game, but Lindenwood held them to just two touchdowns and 330 yards of offense. The Lions also forced six turnovers, recorded seven tackles for loss and had eight pass breakups as the Pioneers' receivers constantly got hit hard before coming down with catches.
The game was essentially over in the first five minutes when Lindenwood came quickly out of the gates and put up 21 points. On its first offensive possession, it took the Lions just four plays to score as Denodus O'Bryant went the distance on a 43-yard shovel pass from
Philip Staback. On MidAmerica Nazarene's first play of the game, Tyler Herl's pass found Lindenwood's
Alvin Davie who had to take it just two yards for an interception return touchdown. On the Pioneers' next possession, their drive stalled at midfield and on the punt, the snap went over the punter's head. O'Bryant picked it up and went 22 yards to put the Lions up 21-0.
Lindenwood added to its lead with two more touchdowns in the second quarter, getting two two-yard receptions by
Rudy Fleming and O'Bryant. The high-scoring Pioneer offense couldn't muster its first points until just over a minute remained before halftime.
In the second half, the defense continued to hold MidAmerica Nazarene down, only allowing one touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Lindenwood scored 20 points in the final 30 minutes, getting two
Halley Ferrell field goals and touchdown receptions by
Zach Booker and
Matt Angell.
The defensive effort by Lindenwood was truly an all-around team effort with not just one single person standing out. #T.J. Prell# had a team-high six tackles, including 1.5 for losses.
Scott Cozart, Davie,
Adarrious Ross and
Tony Ritzman had interceptions, and
Chidi Oteh caused a fumble that was recovered by
Chris Howard. Eight different players had pass breakups and
Logen Wright blocked an extra point try.
Offensively, the Lions also had a balanced stat sheet.
Philip Staback completed 13-of-18 passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns in just over two quarters of action.
David Ortega and
Brett Ballmann each threw a touchdown pass as well. O'Bryant finished with three touchdowns and had a combined 85 rushing and receiving yards.
Richard Murrell was the leading rusher with 53 yards, and Fleming was the top receiver with eight catches for 91 yards.
Game Notes: The victory was the 100th in school history … Lindenwood is the only remaining HAAC team without a loss as Graceland also lost on Saturday … the 55 points was the most the Lions have ever scored against MidAmerica Nazarene … the Lions have scored 45 or more points in four straight games, the first time in school history that it has done that … Lindenwood extends its school record winning streaks to 14 games at home and 13 games in HAAC play … the loss snapped a 16-game HAAC winning streak for MidAmerica Nazarene … the home team has now won the last five meetings between these two schools … the contest was delayed 38 minutes due to lightning in the area during pregame warm-ups.
