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"This game was a good example of how misleading stats can be," said Ross. "They only gained 47 yards on two possessions in the first quarter, but they managed to limit us to only one drive with the wind by milking the play clock and getting a few first downs."
If the first quarter was uneventful for LU, the second period was a anything but, and the events were all of the nightmare variety. To get things started on the wrong foot, junior tailback Hakeem Abdullah fumbled on the first play of the quarter deep in his own end, with the Ravens recovering at the LU 22.
That mishap resulted only in a flesh wound, as the Ravens lost one yard in four plays and settled for a 40-yd. field goal by Jordan Banion. On LU's next try into the teeth of the wind, the very first play again exploded, as sophomore QB Ben Kisner was sacked for a 16-yd. loss back to the LU 4-yd. line when a screen pass attempt in the left flat crashed and burned.
Forced to punt from deep in their own end, the Lions promptly delivered a dribbling long snap, followed by a blocked punt which set BC up at the Lindenwood 19. This time, the Ravens cashed in, with senior TE Justin Lutz grabbing a 10-yd. TD pass off play action from freshman John Weitlich on third-and-one.
Things quickly went from bad to worse for the Lions. Starting again from their own 20 after the BC score, the LU offense sputtered, with a two-yard loss by Abdullah and two incomplete passes forcing another punt try ... which never came, as this snap sailed far over the head of punter Zac Atterberry, out of the end zone for a safety. Suddenly, it was 12-3 in favor of the Ravens, and to get those 12 points, the Ravens had moved the football exactly eight yards.
The crushing blow came moments later, as the Ravens took advantage of another punt mishap after an offensive possession which could get nothing going from poor field position. This time the punt was shanked and knocked down by the wind at the LU 35. The Ravens drove to the Lion four-yd. line, converting two key third down plays, and lined up to kick a field goal on fourth down.
Only 20 seconds before intermission, veteran BC head coach Larry Wilcox had called for a fake, however, and a great diving catch by Lutz along the back line of the end zone made it 19-3 at the half. Even with all the other things that didn't go well for LU, that play was the blow to the jugular.
"That sequence of events down there close to our end zone in the second quarter was like something from a bad movie," said Ross. "We are very young on both sides of the ball, and we just don't have many guys who have experienced coming back from a dose of adversity that size, on the road, against a good team, in tough conditions."
After the Lions went three-and-out on their opening possession of the second half, the Ravens marched 64 yards on seven plays, into the wind, scoring on a three-yd. run by sophomore tailback Jesse Thomas to make it 26-3. Each team added a score after that, but in reality, the killing blows had all been landed before halftime - the second half was like the school bully stealing money from the kid he had already sucker punched at morning recess.
"We'll come back and get back to work on Monday, because I guarantee that Graceland is not going to feel sorry for us, " said Ross of the Lions' upcoming date with the HAAC-leading Yellowjackets. "We're still right there in a position to compete with anyone in our conference, but obviously, we have to play better. And we will."
Graceland and Lindenwood will square off on Saturday at 6:00 pm at LU Stadium in Saint Charles, Mo.
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