The Lindenwood football team (3-6, 1-4 BS/OVC) dropped a close game to Eastern Illinois (6-3, 2-2 BS/OVC), 16-10 on Saturday afternoon from Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Mo.

GAME OVERVIEW
Eastern Illinois started fast, putting up nine quick points to take a 9-0 lead less than five minutes into the game. The Panthers added another score late in the quarter to go up 16-0 after 15 minutes of play.

Lindenwood was able to put a drive together to begin the second quarter but had to settle for three as Logan Seibert connected from 45 yards to cut the deficit to 16-3. The game became a defensive battle after that, seeing the Lindenwood defense hold the Panthers to just 30 yards of offense in the second quarter. In the middle frame, Taylen Blaylock intercepted his team-leading third pass of the year. The Lions would trail 16-3 at the break.

The two teams continued to trade stops in the third quarter. The Lions missed an opportunity to add on early in the frame as Seibert missed a 42-yard kick wide right at the 10:03 mark. Once again, the Lindenwood defense held strong, keeping them in the game. Heading into the fourth, the score remained 16-3.

The Lindenwood offense started to pick up the pace in the fourth quarter with the help of Jalen Smith. The freshman receiver had two grabs of 40 plus yards in the frame, which helped get the offense in gear. The Lions finally found the end zone with 1:19 left in the game as Cooper Justice connected with Chase Lanckriet on a 10-yard score to cut the deficit to 16-10. Eastern Illinois recovered the ensuing onside kick and would take over. However, the Lindenwood defense got a stop and used its timeouts to give the offense one more shot.

On the first play of the drive, Justice was intercepted, which sealed the game for Eastern Illinois.

QUOTABLE
"I have to say first how proud of our team I am for their continuous fight", said head coach Jed Stugart.  "Unfortunately, games like these come down to the littlest of things which we're going to see watching the film of this game.  Every team is battling adversity this point in the season so we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We got to clean up those little things, cause the fight is there and put it all together."


GAME LEADERS
Spencer Redd (6 catches, 88 yards)
Jalen Smith (2 catches, 83 yards)
Brenden Dye (8 tackles, 1.5 sacks)

UP NEXT
The Lions will host Bryant next Saturday, November 11 for senior day. Kickoff from St. Charles, Mo. is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.