The Lindenwood football team fell behind early last Saturday in St. Joseph, Mo., and it could not mount a comeback as Missouri Western defeated the Lions by a 40-8 score.
 
Field position played a key early in the game, helping Missouri Western get an early lead. The first two times the Griffons touched the ball, they were in Lindenwood territory, helping them get a 10-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.
 
Lindenwood's offense, meanwhile, struggled early on, as it turned the ball over in each of its first three possessions. The final turnover in that span was especially costly for the Lions. Down 13-0 early in the second quarter, Lindenwood advanced the ball to Missouri Western's three-yard line. A bad snap and holding penalty moved the team back to the 26-yard line. On third down, the Lions then threw an interception that was returned 99 yards for a touchdown. The Griffons added one more field goal in the first half for a 23-0 lead at halftime.
 
Missouri Western's defense was the story of the second half as the Lions struggled moving the ball for the final 30 minutes. The lone bright spot was Bakari Triggs returning a kickoff for 99 yards that gave Lindenwood its only points of the game. That return was the third longest in Lindenwood history, and put Triggs over 1,000 kickoff return yards for his career. That third-quarter touchdown made the score 37-8, and the only points after that was a fourth-quarter field goal for the Griffons.
 
Missouri Western finished the game with 377 rushing yards and 425 total yards of offense. Lindenwood's pass defense allowed just 48 yards, the seventh-fewest passing yards allowed in a game in program history. The Lions finished with 174 yards of total offense. The Griffons forced five turnovers in the game, two of which were returned for a touchdown, and Lindenwood only gained one turnover.
 
Nate Blanchard led the defense with 15 tackles, and he also forced a turnover, that was recovered by David Knox. Triggs had nine solo tackles, including a team-high 2.0 tackles for loss. Offensively, Deantrell Prince had five catches for 38 yards, and Calen Campbell had a team-high 37 rushing yards.
 
Lindenwood returns home next week for a Homecoming contest against Emporia State. That game will be on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Hunter Stadium.