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Lions travel to Kansas for season-ending game at Baker
Lindenwood vs. Baker
Nov. 11 , 2006
Baldwin City, KS
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You might think the one-game swing between finishing the 2006 season - one marred by injury and the inconsistency of youth - at 6-6 or 5-7 overall, wouldn't matter that much in the grand scheme of things. Don't tell Lindenwood head coach Patrick Ross and his team that.
"We need to win this game just as badly as we needed to win the Graceland game a few weeks ago, or the Evangel game," said Ross, wrapping up his third season as the Lions' mentor. "We have a very important offseason coming up, and we want to end this year on a positive note. Plus, we have 16 seniors who'll be playing in their last game, and we want to send them out the right way."
The Lions would end the 2006 Heart of America Athletic Conference campaign with a record of 6-4 by beating Baker on their Senior Day - a finish which would ensure that no Heart team has won more games than Lindenwood over the last three seasons.
Lindenwood enters Saturday's game against head coach Mike Grossner's Wildcats with a record of 22-7 in HAAC play since Ross came to LU, the same record posted by Graceland and MidAmerica Nazarene during that time. Though this has certainly been a disappointing season in some ways, the Lions are proud of that mark and want to protect it.
"This conference is so tough, week in and week out, that you just have to be at the top of your game, or you're liable to get beat," said Ross. "For a team to win eight or nine games in this league is a huge accomplishment. We want to be the kind of program that can do it every season."
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The Lions enter the game with Baker coming off a tough 14-10 win over Avila at home, while the Wildcats suffered an overtime loss on the road to Culver-Stockton. Both teams have enough firepower left on offense, even after being riddled by injuries, to make it an exciting afternoon in Baldwin. Ross believes the Wildcats are playing their best football of the season.
"We get their film each week throughout the season, because of how the schedule plays out, so we've seen them get better and better down the stretch, " said Ross. "Their quarterback is big and strong, and they fly to the football on defense."
Lindenwood's practices have resembled a recreation break at a MASH unit for much of the season's second half, and this week was no different - as of Thursday afternoon, as many as six starting positions were up in the air because of varying levels of injury to regular personnel. How many of those guys can go on Saturday will go a long way toward determining how the 2006 season ends for the Lions.
"The injuries have been tough on us, but that happens to every team to some extent," said Ross. "In a way, it's a challenge, because you're forced to play some of your young guys - which can be good and bad. We have a little more idea of what we'll have coming back in the spring, but we would rather have had Marcus Klund for the whole season, for example."
Game time is set for 1:00 in Baldwin City, Kan..
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Sophomore linebacker Logen Wright (9) is the Lions' leading tackler for the season, and freshman tailback McCray Harris (32) should be one of the most exciting players in the Heart over the next three years; steady junior WR Grady Wilson (8) has caught 20 passes this season for the Lion offense.
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