Led by a strong defense, the Lindenwood football team nearly upset No. 23 Emporia State on Saturday at Hunter Stadium. The Hornets were able to hang on though for a 20-13 win over the Lions. 

Emporia State came into the game as the top offense in the MIAA, scoring 44 points a game. Lindenwood however, kept the Hornets out of the endzone in nine of their 12 drives. Among the stops were four forced punts, two turnovers on downs, and one missed field goal attempt. The Hornets averaged 5.4 yards a play, a yard fewer than their season average, and they scored 18 points less than their previous lowest scoring game of the year. That defensive effort by the Lions kept the game close and allowed Lindenwood a chance to win in the fourth quarter. 

Emporia State outscored the Lions 14-3 in a first half which mostly featured the teams punting back-and-forth to each other. The Hornets opened the scoring at the 5:38 mark in the first quarter with a touchdown. Lindenwood got three points back midway through the second quarter on a 34-yard field goal by Brandon White. Emporia State got one of the biggest scores of the game though with a touchdown with just 36 seconds remaining in the half. 

In the third quarter, Emporia State went on two 11-play drives, but got zero points out of both of them. Lindenwood then took advantage of good field position with a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter. Tre' Roby scored his team-leading third touchdown of the season after being on the receiving side of a 23-yard pass play from Mason Bendigo.

Lindenwood got the ball back down 14-10 after Emporia State missed a field goal. The Lions moved to midfield before the drive stalled, and they had to punt. On its next drive, Emporia State scored its third touchdown on a big 33-yard pass on a third-and-long play. The Hornets missed the extra point, but led 20-10.

The Lions got the score within one possession on another White field goal with 4:41 left in the game, but they never got the ball back. Emporia State picked up two first downs which allowed it to run the clock out.

Emporia State finished with 492 yards of total offense, including 386 through the air. The Hornets had to throw the ball 58 times to get those numbers, and their 6.7 yards per attempt and 9.0 average per completion were both well below their season average. Lindenwood compiled 289 yards of total offense, with 224 passing yards.

One area that the Lions dominated in the game was special teams and field position. Emporia State had an average starting field position of the 20-yard line, and it started a third of its drives inside the 10. Both Bendigo and Matt Klinger had two punts that went inside the 10-yard line, and Connor Harris had a punt that went to the 20-yard line.

Harris finished the game with a career-high 24 tackles. He had the team's only sack, had 1.5 tackles for loss, and broke up a pass. Clint Koons finished with 14 tackles, and Bakari Triggs and Seven Pace each had a career-high 10 tackles. Pace had a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss and blocked an extra point.

Bendigo had his first collegiate start at quarterback for the Lions and finished with 224 passing yards and one touchdown. Gregg Coble and Jaron Alexander combined for 11 receptions, and both had 77 receiving yards. Lavorrie Johnson rushed for 67 yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry. Johnson also had 18 receiving yards and 18 kickoff return yards to finish with 103 all-purpose yards.

Game Notes: Lindenwood falls to 1-4 on the season and in MIAA play … Emporia State improves to 5-0 on the year and in the MIAA … Emporia State now leads the all-time series by a 4-0 margin, with today's game being the closest contest out of the four … neither team had a turnover in the game … Jaron Alexander moved up to third in Lindenwood history for career receptions (134) and seventh in career receiving yards (1,524) … Brandon White matched his career high with two field goals made … Emporia State came into the game converting 68 percent of its third and fourth-down plays, but was held under 50 percent against the Lions … Lindenwood goes on the road next week to face nationally-ranked Northwest Missouri at 1 p.m.