The Lindenwood football team was able to overcome an early deficit against Emporia State, but in the end it couldn't keep pace with the Hornets offense. The Lions fell on Homecoming last Saturday by 41-30 score.
 
Emporia State needed just 1:15 to take the lead, sparked by a 72-yard pass play on the first snap of the game. After trading punts and a missed Lindenwood field goal, the Hornets had a 13-play touchdown drive, giving them a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.

The two defenses took over for the rest of the half. The Lions forced a turnover, two missed field goals, and a punt on Emporia State's next four possessions. The only points in the second quarter came on a big play from Calen Campbell. Lindenwood had the ball one-yard inside Emporia State territory to start the quarter. Campbell found a hole on the right side and outran the defense to get the Lions within seven points.
 
On Emporia State's first drive of the second half, Darrius Williams knocked the ball loose from a wide receiver, and it went directly to Nick Granberry for a turnover. With great field position, Lindenwood needed just six plays to tie the game. Najee Jackson completed three straight passes for 27 yards, and then rushed the ball into the endzone from eight yards out.
 
The game remained tie for just 3:11 though. Emporia State went on a 15-play drive to take a 20-14 lead. The Lions had several chances to get the Hornets off the field, but Emporia State had two third-down conversions and one fourth-down conversion on the drive.
 
Early in the final quarter, Lindenwood looked to go ahead and had first-and-goal from the 10-yard line. Three straight runs netted seven yards, and the Lions took the field goal to make the score 20-17.
 
Lindenwood's defense had been on the field for 84 plays at that point, and the Hornets were able to take advantage. Emporia State averaged 8.6 yards per play the rest of the game, and scored touchdowns on its final three possessions. Lindenwood's offense also scored twice, but could never get closer than 10 points.
 
Lindenwood averaged more yards per play, but Emporia State had 612 total yards, compared to 466 for the Lions. Both teams did most of their damage through the air, with the Hornets having 421 passing yards and Lindenwood having 367. One of the biggest difference in the game was that Emporia State was 17-of-24 on third and fourth-down plays, while the Lions were just six-of-18 in those situations.
 
Jackson finished the game with 398 yards of total offense. He had 367 passing yards, two touchdown throws, and no interceptions. He completed 61.2 percent of his passes. Jackson also rushed for 31 yards and one touchdown.
 
Calen Campbell rushed for 51 yards and went over 1,000 career yards on his touchdown run. DeSean Warren led the receivers with eight catches for 121 yards. Kendell Sparks had 89 receiving yards, and Kai Collier and Shakeem Wharton both had receiving touchdowns.
 
Defensively, Ace Rogers had an interception, and also forced a fumble that went out of bounds. CJ Bivens had a team-high 17 tackles, and Williams had 11 tackles. Nate Blanchard had two sacks and three tackles for loss. Lindenwood had 10 pass breakups, including two each by Bakari Triggs and Jordan Perry.