The Lindenwood football team squared off last Saturday in Joplin, Mo. with the other Lions in the MIAA, Missouri Southern. Lindenwood took care of business from the very start against the winless Missouri Southern squad, and it came away with a 37-17 victory.
 
Lindenwood's offense scored on six of its first eight possessions, which helped the team build an unsurmountable 37-10 lead in the third quarter. Most of that damage was done on the ground, as the visitors rushed for 299 yards, and averaged 6.0 yards per rushing attempt.
 
The defense forced six punts on the day, including three on three-and-out possessions. Missouri Southern had 12 possessions in the game, and had 25 or fewer yards in all but four of them.
 
Lindenwood scored on its first drive, helped by the defense and special teams giving it the ball in Missouri Southern territory. Lindenwood completed a third-down and fourth-down play on the drive, and quarterback Najee Jackson finished it with a four-yard rushing touchdown.
 
Both teams made field goals their next time with the ball, making the score 10-3 after one quarter. Early in the second quarter, after a turnover on downs, Lindenwood put together a 12-play drive that resulted in seven more points. The big play was a fourth-and-eight rush by Jackson that went for 20 yards and got the ball into the redzone. Jackson later threaded a pass to John Johnson in the endzone for a five-yard touchdown.
 
Missouri Southern scored on its next drive, thanks to a 42-yard pass that advanced the ball down field. Lindenwood had a turnover on its next possession, giving Missouri Southern a chance to tie the game late in the half. The defense forced a three-and-out though, led by Jonathan Harris who had two tackles for no gain. Lindenwood took over and marched the ball down field to score with 36 seconds left. Shakeem Wharton had the touchdown on a 14-yard run.
 
After trading punts to start the second half, Lindenwood had its biggest pass play on the day. Jackson found Kendell Sparks, who then outran the defense for a 45-yard touchdown play. Lindenwood's defense forced another punt, and Lindenwood put the game away with another touchdown.
 
Lindenwood's defense was the story for the rest of the game. It allowed a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but after that, Missouri Southern had just 15 yards on its final three possessions.
 
Lindenwood finished with 479 yards of total offense, compared to 299 for Missouri Southern. The home team had 155 yards rushing, but its passing game saw it complete just 14-of-35 passes for 144 yards. Lindenwood was three-for-three on fourth-down plays, and also picked up a first down on a fourth-and-five play with a Missouri Southern penalty. In all four of those drives, Lindenwood wound up with touchdowns.
 
Campbell finished with a team-high 129 rushing yards, the most by a Lindenwood player this season. Wharton just missed the 100-yard mark with 91 rushing yards. Both players averaged 6.5 yards or more per carry. Jackson had three touchdowns, one on the ground and two throwing. He finished with 180 passing yards, with 87 of those going to Sparks.
 
Antonio Davis led the defense with team-highs of eight tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss.  Ace Rogers had six tackles and two pass breakups. Bakari Triggs and Tanner Sobotka both had seven stops and one pass breakup.