ST. CHARLES, Missouri -- The Lindenwood football team survived its season opener on Thursday night at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Mo. with a 24-22 victory over Lincoln.Lindenwood looked in complete control for the first 45 minutes of the game, led by a defense that allowed just three points and 202 yards of offense through three quarters. Lincoln's offense found its rhythm though in the fourth quarter, starting with a touchdown with 12:05 remaining in the game to make the score 24-10.
The Lions had a chance to seal the victory with 5:37 left but a missed field goal and gave Lincoln one more chance. The Blue Tigers scored a touchdown just over one minute later, but A.J. Chappelle came up with the play of the game by blocking the extra point.
That play ended up winning the game for Lindenwood as Lincoln got within two points with a touchdown with 18 seconds left. The Blue Tigers were forced to go for two points to force overtime but their attempt failed with a dropped pass in the endzone.
Prior to the fourth quarter, Lindenwood was in complete control of the contest. The Lions received the opening kickoff and marched 74 yards in 11 plays. Dillon Miller was eight-of-nine passing on that drive and Marvin Byrd capped it off with a four-yard run.
The Lions went up 10-0 on a Brandon White field goal early in the second quarter. Lincoln answered with a field goal, but the Lions scored a key touchdown late in the half. A big pass play from Miller to Jaron Alexander got the ball into Lincoln territory and two plays later, Miller found Tyrian Taylor for a 26-yard touchdown with 20 seconds left before halftime.
In the third quarter, Lindenwood scored on its first possession when Miller threw his second touchdown, this time connecting with Alex Robinson for a five-yard touchdown. That proved to be just enough for the Lions to hang on in the fourth quarter.
The Lions finished with 468 yards of total offense, including 377 through the air. Lincoln finished with 403 yards, with nearly half of that in the final quarter.
Miller set a Lindenwood single-game record with 34 completed passes and threw the second-most passes with 52. He finished with 363 passing yards to go along with his two touchdown passes. Byrd was the leading rusher with 78 yards. Jordan Gator caught 10 passes for 107 yards, and Alexander had six catches for 94 yards.
Defensively, Connor Harris was all over the place with 17 total tackles, including 12 solo stops. He also had two pass breakups, including one in the endzone. Pierre Desir had seven tackles and two pass breakups, and Thomas Stubbs had two sacks. D'Andre Green had Lindenwood's only turnover in the game with a fourth-quarter interception.
Game Notes: Lindenwood won its season opener for the fifth straight season and are now 12-12 all-time in season openers … the Lions are 18-6 in home openers, including a 10-0 mark under head coach Patrick Ross … Lindenwood is now 2-0 all-time on Thursday night games … as a team, Lindenwood had the third-most passes for a single-game with 56 and set a team record with 36 completions … the Lions will be in action again on Sept. 14 at Southwest Baptist.
Box Score
COURTESY LINDENWOOD UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS
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