The Lindenwood football team showed some promise on Saturday in Emporia, Kan., but could not put together a complete game. The Lions fell to Emporia State by a 37-22 score.
 
True freshman quarterback Graham Lindman started his first collegiate game and directed Lindenwood's offense to its most production of the season with a season-high 391 yards of total offense. Lindman threw for over 300 yards, completed 60.5% of his passes, and had three touchdown throws.
 
Defensively, Connor Harris continues to be everywhere for the Lions. He had a career-high 23 tackles, with 12 solo stops and 11 assisted tackles. He recorded a tackle on 27.7% of Emporia State's offensive plays, and had his second 20-tackle game in as many weeks. The 23 tackles are the most in NCAA Division II this season for a single game, and ties for the 18th-most in NCAA Division II history.
 
Despite the bright spots, mistakes continue to haunt the Lions and kept them from making this a competitive game. The two teams played a defensive battle for the first half, with the only points for the first 24 minutes being a Hornet field goal. Late in the half though, a punt return fumble gave Emporia State the ball at the Lindenwood 27-yard line, and it scored a touchdown to make the game 9-0.
 
On its next drive, Lindenwood missed a chance to get within one possession with a miss on a short field goal attempt. The Hornets finally got a big play offensively with a 57-yard run, and scored five plays later to make it 16-0 at halftime.
 
Emporia State came out of the locker room strong, going on an 11-play drive and scoring another touchdown. Two Lindenwood interceptions in its territory led to the Hornets other two touchdowns, including one that was returned 39 yards for a score.
 
Emporia State finished with 403 yards of offense, just 12 more than Lindenwood. The Lions averaged 6.0 yards per play, compared to 4.9 for the Hornets. Emporia State had 18 more plays though and held the ball for nearly 10 minutes longer. Lindenwood also turned the ball over two more times than Emporia State.
 
Other individual highlights for Lindenwood included Jaron Alexander having a career-high two touchdown receptions. The other Lions score was a reception by Sam Sealer. Alex Robinson had team-highs with six receptions and 90 receiving yards. On the ground, Anthony Cade had 48 rushing yards on just six carries.
 
Defensively, Clint Koons forced a fumble that was recovered by Roderick Ryles for the team's only forced turnover. Ryles finished with a career-high 14 tackles. Xavier Warren, Wes Kuhn, and Sykler Sugges each had a sack, and Tyler Walker recorded a pass breakup.
 
Game Notes: Lindenwood falls to 1-4, while Emporia State improves to 3-2 … Lindman's 300-yard passing game was the first for Lindenwood since Dillon Miller threw for 327 yards last year against Washburn in week eight of the season … Jaron Alexander now has 86 career receptions, which ranks ninth in Lindenwood history … Alex Robinson passed 1,500 career receiving yards in the game and now has 1,566 … Sam Sealer's touchdown catch was his fourth career receiving touchdown, and the first since the 2013 campaign … Roderick Ryles had his fourth double-figure tackle game of his career, and Connor Harris had his 12th … the Lions are now 0-3 all-time against Emporia State … Lindenwood returns home next week for its 1:30 p.m. Homecoming contest against the No. 1 team in NCAA Division II, Northwest Missouri.