The Lindenwood football team (2-2, 0-2 OVC) lost to Southeast Missouri State (4-1, 1-0 OVC) on Saturday by a final of 49-28 inside Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Mo.
 
GAME OVERVIEW
The Lindenwood defense again started strong, as the Redhawks had to settle for a pair of field goals in the first quarter to take a slim 6-0 lead.  SEMO capitalized on a turnover, adding seven points at the 13:13 mark of the second quarter.  The Redhawks forced a three-and-out the next ensuing drive, and tacked on another touchdown, taking a commanding 21-0 lead halfway through the first half.
 
Lindenwood continued to fight back, as the Lions put together a solid drive.  The offense clawed away with positive gains, and picked up big yards on pass plays to Payton Rose and Kobe Smith.  Cade Brister capped off the drive with a 14-yard strike to Rose to make it a 21-7 ballgame.  Lindenwood had another shot late in the half to pull closer, but an incomplete pass in the end zone as time expired kept the Redhawks ahead by 14 points.
 
Both teams struggled to find offense early in the third quarter, but the Lions found the end zone on a 19-yard pass to Smith at the 4:10 mark to pull within a touchdown.  SEMO answered immediately with a short six-play, 74-yard drive to bring its lead to 28-14.  Lindenwood drove down the field on the next drive, but an interception in the red zone led to a long touchdown run for the Redhawks, and a 35-14.
 
Like they did all game, the Lions didn't back down.  Justin Williams ate up 53 yards on the ensuing drive, and Brister used his legs for a 16-yard touchdown scramble to make it a 35-21 game with just 10:14 left in the fourth quarter.  SEMO was able to eat up 4:35 of game clock on nine plays, and ended the drive with another rushing touchdown.  Brister kept the offense moving, as he found Jalen Bethany for a 30-yard touchdown pass to make it 42-28, but it was too little too late in the loss on Saturday.
 
Andrew Martin had a strong day in all phases of the game, as he compiled 134 all-purpose yards.  Martin rushed the ball for 74 yards, collected 60 receiving yards, and made two great tackles on kickoff coverage.  Brister ran the ball in for the 21st time in his career, placing him in sole possession of fourth place in the school's record book.  Rose hauled in his 28th career touchdown pass, and sits just four scores away from tying the program leader in Andrew Helmick.
 
QUOTABLE
"I don't think there's any question our guys have fight in them, and a no-quit attitude," said head coach Jed Stugart.  "Right now in games like these it's all about the little things.  So those are what we need to keep improving on and emphasizing because I think we see every week we're very close, but we have to stop hurting ourselves against good opponents like we saw today."
 
GAME LEADERS
Cade Brister (28-for-44, 346 pass yards, 3 pass TD, 80 rush yards, 1 rush TD)
Andrew Martin (15 rushes, 74 yards, 5 catches, 60 yards, 134 AP yards, 2 tackles)
Kobe Smith (5 catches, 79 receiving yards, 1 TD, 13 KR yards)
 
UP NEXT
Lindenwood will hit the road for two-straight games starting on Saturday in Conway, Ark. for a non-conference matchup with Central Arkansas starting at 4:00 p.m.