The Lindenwood football team (2-4, 2-1 OVC) picked up a 20-13 win over Eastern Illinois (2-5, 1-2 OVC) on Saturday afternoon in Charleston, Ill.
GAME OVERVIEW
The Lions opened the game with a defensive stop and went on a 12-play 76-yard drive on its first possession.
Drew Krobath found the end zone, but it was called back on a penalty, and the Lions had to settle for three off the foot of
Will Graham to take an early lead. Lindenwood outgained the Panthers 120-21 in the first and led 3-0 after one.
Eastern took the lead with an early score in the second. After a Lindenwood three-and-out, the Lions defense came up with a big play on the next possession.
Caleb Jacobmeier forced a fumble on a sack that the Black and Gold recovered. However, they couldn't convert it into points and still trailed 7-3. The Lions got the ball back just before the two-minute mark and went on a 12-play 76-yard drive, capped off by a 10-yard score by
Steve Hall to give Lindenwood a 10-7 lead at the break.
Lindenwood put a strong drive together to begin the third quarter but had to settle for another field goal from Graham to go up 13-7. The Lindenwood defense made another play midway through the quarter as Jacobmeier picked off a pass setting up the Lions in EIU territory. The Panthers defense held firm, however, and kept the Lions off the board. On the ensuing possession, Eastern found the end zone, but the extra point was blocked to keep the game tied headed to the fourth.
The Lions regained the lead early in the fourth as
Pops Battle found the end zone for his fifth rushing touchdown of the season to put Lindenwood up 20-13 with 11 minutes to play. Each defense held firm from there, but EIU had one more opportunity to tie the game, getting the ball back with 3:12 to play. The Panthers made their way into Lindenwood territory, but the Lions didn't break.
Brayon Crawford broke up a pass on furth down in the red zone and the Lions earned a tough 20-13 win in Charleston.
GAME LEADERS
Pops Battle (257 total yards, 26-of-34 passing, one rushing TD)
Steve Hall (14 rushes, 39 yards, one TD)
Caleb Jacobmeier (two tackles, one sack, one INT, one forced fumble)
QUOTABLE
"I was proud of how our guys responded all week," said head coach
Jed Stugart. "All we talked about was getting back to one play at a time, one quarter at a time. They handled a lot of adversity today and played like a team that had each others back.
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UP NEXT
The Lions will return home and take on Chicago State for homecoming on Saturday, October 24. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m.
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