"We were able to come out and hit them with some big plays early in the game, which is something we were unable to do at the beginning of the season in some similar type games," said head coach Patrick Ross, who saw his career record move to 31-12, including a mark of 16-3 in HAAC play, with the win over 0-9 Avila. "Mumph and Ben have been hot the last two weeks, and it was nice to see them hit that big one on the first play of the game."

The Lions moved out to a 13-0 lead on Dorsey's 43-yd. bolt midway through the opening period, then increased the lead to 16-0 on Zac Atterberry's 32-yd. field goal near the end of the quarter.

Dorsey rolled up 112 yards on 12 carries in the first half, scoring his 14th and 15th TD's of the season, before letting freshman understudy Leonard Durant (13 carries, 65 yards, 1 TD) finish up after intermission. The senior from Oklahoma has now accumulated 1,441 rushing yards on the season, with one last chance next week against Baker to establish a school record which Durant will shoot at the next three years.

"Dorsey has been an amazing player for us this season, even early in the year when we didn't have much passing game to take the pressure off him," said Ross. "He's so strong, and so hard to knock off his feet, and then once he gets in the open, he can run by people with angles on him. He got bounced around in the hole some on his first TD, but he just kept moving and eventually broke out of the pack."

Dorsey's second TD made it 23-0 at halftime, and the Lions reserve units had already seen ample action. Durant scored his second career TD early in the third quarter on an 8-yd. run to make it 30-0, then Kisner added the first rushing touchdown of his short career moments later, racing in from 16 yards out to make it 37-0.

Midway through the third quarter at that point, the game then turned into something less than memorable, as the Lions emptied the bench on both offense and defense.

"I wish I could say our second units came in and did a great job, but that wouldn't be an honest assessment," said Ross. "Still, it's nice to see those young guys get a chance to get something on film in a game situation so we can watch it and get some teaching done."

The Lions, now 6-4 overall and 6-3 in the Heart, close out the 2005 season next Saturday with a home date against Baker University. It will be Senior Day in St. Charles, and it will surely be an emotional one for the Lions, who will say goodbye to an outstanding crop of seniors which has done so much to help put the program on the national map.

"It's going to be tough to keep from thinking about what might have been for this group of seniors, because we all had such high expectations for this season," said Ross. "But they have been great players and leaders for us, so we want to send them out the right way. Baker has played some good teams very tough this year, so it's going to be a good matchup."

Game time is set for 1:30 pm at Lindenwood University Stadium.

8-15-0, 124 yds., 1 TD