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Lindenwood explodes for 61-3 Homecoming victory over CMU |
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Without any doubt, Homecoming was fun at Lindenwood University Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Unless you happened to be wearing green, nothing much went wrong, the crowd was big, the sky was blue, and the Homecoming court was downright pretty. The only possible negative after a 61-3 dismantling of Central Methodist on a beautiful day in St. Charles was the "What if?" lingering over the festivities. What if, as in, "What if they had played like that all season?" The answer is much simpler than the reasons why a seemingly talented Lion team could only even its' HAAC record at 3-3 with the win. The reality is, if LU had played each of the first six games the way they played on Homecoming, the Heart standings would look different at the top. "It was great to see some of the smiles on our sideline during the game," said head coach Patrick Ross. "We have some great kids who work very hard, and it's been a frustrating year for all of us. We looked like the team we expected to be." |
LU senior tailback De De Dorsey continued to shine on Saturday, rushing for 180 yards on 24 carries, including three TD's. |
The Lions actually got off to a bit of a slow start against a vastly improved Central Methodist team, which came riding a wave of three consecutive victories for the first time in many years. Stellar senior tailback De De Dorsey, who would end the game with 180 rushing yards and three TD's couldn't find room early, and the Lions trailed 3-0 at the end of the first quarter. The train began to roll downhill during that second 15 minutes, however, as LU reeled off 28 unanswered points before letting the Homecoming Court take the field at intermission. Included in that barrage were the first two TD passes of freshman quarterback Ben Kisner's collegiate career, and a pair of Dorsey scoring runs. "I think we were all excited to see Ben handle himself well in his first start," said Ross of his prized freshman signal caller. "He made a few mistakes early in the game, but you could see how much poise and talent he has." Dorsey, now leading the nation in all-purpose rushing yardage and trailing only Missouri Valley's Ralph Volcin in rushing yards per game, ignited the second half rout with a 79-yard romp on a simple iso play early in the third quarter. The Broken Arrow, Okla., native has now rushed for 863 yards in the last four games, averaging a hair under seven yards per carry during that span. "De De is playing like we expected him to, and the offensive line has really come along, to the point where they are making him even better," said Ross. "Dorsey has a gift, and he's playing behind some guys who are enjoying blocking people right now." |
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Lion freshman tailback Adam Cecil got in on the Homecoming fun, breaking his only carry of the game for a 62-yd. TD run in the fourth quarter. |
The LU defense was swarming all day, producing five takeaways - including an interception here by freshman corner Brandon Gould (15). |
The Lion defense was also looking like its old self on Saturday - five takeaways, 79 yards rushing for the Eagles, a severely rattled freshman quarterback in CMU's Brock Brockmeier ... even a defensive TD when sophomore safety Jared Shoemaker returned an interception 96 yards to paydirt in the fourth quarter. "That was the defense we saw last season," said Ross. "They were flying to the football and making things very hard for Central Methodist. "We've seen glimpses of that in different games this season, but not four quarters of it like we saw on Saturday." The Lions were able to empty the bench before the third quarter was up, and some of the youngsters played well. Freshman tailback Adam Cecil took his first carry as a collegian 62 yards for a TD with a little over three minutes left in the game, moving the final point total over the 60 barrier. |
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The Lions take the field for Homecoming on Saturday against Central Methodist, before completely dominating the game on both sides of the football, outgaining the Eagles 410-205 in total offense. |
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Freshman quarterback Ben Kisner (16) made his much-anticipated varsity debut for the Lions on Saturday, throwing a pair of TD passes while playing well in his first collegiate action; the LU defense (center) was back to form, allowing only 79 rushing yards on 30 carries to the Eagles; sophomore cornerback Bobby Mason (5) grabbed one of the four Lion interceptions on the afternoon.
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Scoring Summary |
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| 1st Quarter | CMU |
Kyle Duffy 25 field goal. | LU 0, CMU 3 |
2nd Quarter |
LU |
Steven Kennedy 9 pass from Ben Kisner (Zac Atterberry kick). |
LU 7, CMU 3 |
- |
LU |
De De Dorsey 3 run (Atterberry kick). |
LU 14, CMU 3 |
- |
LU |
Grady Wilson 3 pass from Kisner (Atterberry kick). |
LU 21, CMU 3 |
- |
LU |
Dorsey 2 run (Atterberry kick). |
LU 28, CMU 3 |
3rd quarter |
LU |
Dorsey 79 run (Atterberry kick). |
LU 35, CMU 3 |
- |
LU |
Jared Shoemaker 96 interception return (Atterberry kick blocked). | LU 41, CMU 3 |
- |
LU |
Chris Simmons 5 run (Will Rodriguez kick). | LU 48, CMU 3 |
| 4th quarter | LU |
Preston Maloney 10 run (Rodriguez kick). | LU 55, CMU 3 |
- |
LU |
Adam Cecil 62 run (PAT failed). | LU 61, CMU 3 |
Team Statistics |
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| RUSHING | Lindenwood | 44 att., 303 yards, 6.89 avg., 6 TD's |
| Central Methodist | 30 att., 79 yards, 2.63 avg. | |
| PASSING | Lindenwood | 8-19-2, 107 yards, 2 TD's |
| Central Methodist | 17-43-4, 126 yards | |
Lindenwood Individual Statistics |
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RUSHING |
RECEIVING | |||||
| De De Dorsey | 24-180 yds. |
3 TD |
Grady Wilson |
3-27 yds. |
1 TD |
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| Adam Cecil | 1-62 |
1 TD |
Steven Kennedy | 2-49 |
1 TD |
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| Leonard Durant | 9-33 |
Bryant Calloway |
2-14 |
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| Preston Maloney | 1-10 |
1 TD |
Chris Simmons | 1-17 |
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| Stephen Jones | 3-7 |
TOTAL |
8-107 |
2 TD |
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| Austin Bortle | 1-5 |
PASSING |
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| Chris Simmons | 2-4 |
1 TD |
Ben Kisner | 8-19-2 |
107 yds. |
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| Ben Kisner | 2-3 |
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| TOTAL | 44-303 |
6 TD |
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| PUNTING | PUNT RETURNS | ||||||
| Zac Atterberry | 6 |
238 yds. |
39.7 |
Bobby Mason | 3 |
44 yds. |
14.7 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | George Mumphard | 2 |
18 |
9.0 |
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| De De Dorsey | 1 |
26 yds. |
26.0 |
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A pair of Lions found the end zone for the first time this season on Saturday: outstanding junior fullback Chris Simmons (left) celebrates with senior George Mumphard (17) after his third-quarter TD; junior quarterback Preston Maloney (18) went in untouched on an option play in the fourth quarter.
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