Box Score The Lindenwood football team moved to 2-0 on the season after picking up its first road victory of 2013. The Lions won 35-27 over Southwest Baptist on Saturday night in Bolivar, Mo.

Lindenwood trailed at halftime but its defense got the team going in the third quarter. The Bearcats opened the half by driving into Lions' territory but the drive ended on a fourth-down play when Pierre Desir picked off a pass in the endzone.

Lindenwood's offense came out firing on its first drive on the half with a five-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. The big play was a 41-yard reception by Sam Sealer. Tre' Roby then finished the drive with a 19-yard run.  On the next possession, the Lions forced Southwest Baptist into another interception. This time, Brian Hawthorne picked it off at the Southwest Baptist 34-yard line and he had no one in front of him as he ran for an interception return touchdown.

Southwest Baptist managed a field goal on its next drive and Lindenwood led 28-20 going into the final quarter. It built on that lead with 10:47 left in the game when Dillon Miller found Alex Robinson in the endzone for a five-yard touchdown.

The Bearcats scored one more touchdown to get within eight, and they regained the ball on their 25-yard line with 2:29 left in the game. Lindenwood recorded a sack on the first play of that drive though and two incompletions and one short rush later the Lions had the ball back. They picked up one first down and were able to run the clock out after that.

The first half saw a scoreless first quarter followed by a wild second quarter. Lindenwood got on the board first with a five-yard run by Jaron Alexander. Southwest Baptist quickly answered though to tie the game at seven. Marvin Byrd put the Lions back ahead midway through the second quarter with a seven-yard rushing touchdown.

Southwest Baptist then scored 10 points in a 23-second span late in the half. The Bearcats concluded a nearly seven-minute drive with a field goal with 1:05 remaining. Lindenwood turned into over on its next play and the Bearcats needed just one play of their own to score a 26-yard touchdown. That touchdown gave Southwest Baptist a 17-14 halftime lead.

Lindenwood outgained Southwest Baptist in the game by a 434-375 margin. The Lions held the MIAA's top passing team in week one to just 253 passing yards, with 75 of that coming on the final Bearcats' touchdown. Lindenwood's defense had five sacks, while Lindenwood allowed none, and Southwest Baptist was just six-of-17 on third-down plays and one-of-five on fourth-down snaps.

Byrd led the offense by recording a career-best 130 rushing yards, and Miller finished with 279 passing yards. Jordan Gater caught six passes for 84 yards, and Robinson finished with six receptions for 80 yards. Sealer had just two receptions but had 71 receiving yards.

Connor Harris led Lindenwood's defense with nine tackles, and Thomas Stubbs had a team-high 1.5 sacks. Other sacks went to A.J. Chappelle, Xavier Warren, Skyler Suggs, and Chris Floyd. Floyd and Stubbs both had 2.0 tackles for loss. Desir had two pass breakups to go along with his one interception.

Game Notes: Lindenwood improves to 2-0 overall and 2-0 in MIAA play … Southwest Baptist falls to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in MIAA play … the Lions are now 2-0 all-time against Southwest Baptist … Lindenwood has won its first road game of the season for each of its last five seasons … Marvin Byrd recorded his second career 100-yard rushing game … Pierre Desir now has 22 career interceptions and moves into a tie for third in MIAA history in that category … the Lions will be in action again on Sept. 21 with a 1:30 p.m. contest at Central Missouri.