The 2017 Lindenwood football season came to an end on Saturday afternoon at Hunter Stadium. The final scoreboard of the year showed that the Lions fell in a close battle to Central Missouri by a 31-24 margin.
 
The 2017 season will go down in the record books as one in which first-year head coach Jed Stugart, 19 seniors, and the rest of the program built the foundation for future success. While the program improved internally throughout the year, it also saw an improvement in the win column, as well as several losses that could have gone either way. The final game of the season fell in that latter category as the Mules need a fourth quarter comeback to escape St. Charles with a win.
 
Lindenwood's defense did a great job slowing down the Mules' offense, which was one of the top units in NCAA Division II, for the first three quarters. Central Missouri scored 17 unanswered points though in the final 14 minutes for the win.
 
The game was expected to be an offensive shootout coming in, but the defense ruled the first half and Lindenwood led 10-7 at the break. The Lions took advantage of a turnover on the Mules' first possession for a 21-yard Travis Spraul field goal. After trading punts, Lindenwood took that 3-0 lead to the second quarter.
 
After another Central Missouri punt, the Lions went up 10-0 on a 78-yard drive. The final two plays covered 46 yards and were both passes from Najee Jackson to Deantrell Prince. The second pass play was a 21-yard touchdown reception.
 
Lindenwood had a chance to add to the lead after a missed field goal by the Mules. A Lions turnover though gave Central Missouri the ball just 31 yards away from the endzone, and it reached that six plays later for the final points of the half.
 
The Mules started the second half with an onside kick, but the ball went out-of-bounds. Lindenwood took advantage of the short field with a touchdown drive to make the score 17-7. Calen Campbell had a 24-yard run on the second play, and then scored from 12 yards out on the fifth play.
 
A turnover hurt Lindenwood again later in the quarter when a fumble gave Central Missouri the ball in Lindenwood territory. The Mules scored on a five-yard pass play to pull the team within three points of the Lions.
 
The third quarter ended with the Lions driving, and Lindenwood scored 54 seconds into the quarter. Jackson found Collier in the left-hand corner for a two-yard touchdown pass. That score put Lindenwood up 24-14.
 
The Mules had its most impressive drive of the game right after that, getting the Mules back in the game. Central Missouri completed four straight passes to go 81 yards in just 61 seconds. The two teams punted on the next three possessions, before a long pass play helped Central Missouri tie the game with 5:42 left on a 47-yard field goal.
 
A Lindenwood punt gave the Mules the ball back with 4:33 remaining. After two straight incomplete passes, Central Missouri completed a third-down play for 20 yards to keep the drive going, and it ended up scoring the game-winning touchdown with 2:07 left in the game.
 
The Lions had one more chance, and a big fourth-down scramble by Jackson kept the game alive in the final minute. However, on the next play, his 48-yard pass down the field was intercepted to seal the win for the Mules.
 
Central Missouri finished the game with 405 yards of total offense, which was 134 yards below its season average. Lindenwood's defense had a season-high five sacks and tied a season-high seven tackles for loss. Lindenwood had 339 yards of total offense, with 117 rushing yards and 222 passing yards.
 
Lindenwood's defense was led by Jonathan Harris who had four tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two quarterback hurries, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. Darrius Williams and CJ Bivens both had 10 tackles. Drew Seers returned after missing four games and had nine tackles and two quarterback hurries, and Ace Rogers had nine stops. Jordan Perry broke up two passes.
 
Offensively, Jackson finished with 222 passing yards and two touchdowns. Prince caught eight of those passes for 102 yards. Shakeem Wharton had a team-high 58 rushing yards, and averaged 8.3 yards per carry.