Homecoming Weekend at Lindenwood should always feature a good football game on Saturday afternoon, and it appears that’s exactly what should be on tap, as Central Methodist and Lindenwood square off this weekend at LU Stadium.

Central Methodist, led by veteran mentor Merle Masonholder, is coming off one of it’s best wins in recent memory, after throttling a pretty good Culver-Stockton team last weekend in Fayette, 40-15.

The Eagles are a team that can run, and they play an aggressive style of defense which can give teams fits. Masonholder’s outfit has won three games in a row, including a tough road win at Baker. Freshman quarterback Brock Brockmeier has played well, giving the Eagles a spark they lacked on offense last season, and his team is playing with confidence around him.

"Coach Masonholder has them playing very well," said Lion head coach Patrick Ross. "They gave us a tough time defensively last season down there, but they're combining that with some good young players on offense this year, and that's going to make them dangerous in the future."

The future is not exactly what Ross and his team figured they would be thinking about in the middle of October, but the 2005 season has been anything but predictable for the Lions. Turnovers, penalties, and a genius for self-destruction have relegated an LU team, which was universally thought to be a title contender, to spoiler status over the season’s second half.

Last week’s 24-10 loss on the road to league-leading Evangel was a good illustration of how this bad dream of a season has gone for the Lions. Senior tailback De De Dorsey ripped up the Crusaders for 246 rushing yards on 31 carries … but LU turned the rock over four times, racked up 14 penalties, and came up empty (as in, “did not score”) on two second-down trips to the Evangel six-inch line.

Combined with the fact that the Lion defense had zero luck containing EU tailback Demetric Phillips at various points in the game, all the self-inflicted wounds were too much to overcome. In all four of the Lion losses, the same tendency to find new and disturbing ways to hurt themselves has been the common theme.

"We just haven't been able to get over that hump this season of not shooting ourselves in the foot early in games," said Lion head coach Patrick Ross. "We played very hard against Evangel, and you could see the hurt on our kids' faces after the game, so I think we'll continue to work hard and try to break through this pattern of self-destruction. We have some big games over the last month of the season, games where I believe our players will take great pride in trying to bring some teams down."

So, where does all of that leave LU with five games left in a season gone decidedly south of where it was supposed to? A team in this position can go in only two possible directions, only one of which shows some heart.

Expect this group of Lions to come out fighting on Saturday. The senior class has a chance, now, to accomplish some different goals than the ones imagined in August. Playing with pride, with character, when the spotlight is gone and the bandwagon is empty—those are things that can create an impression on a very talented group of young players in the Lion program.

A freshman class which featured 17 first team All-Staters will be growing up soon, and Ross and his staff have every intention of being loaded again. The example of how to handle the adversity of the 2005 season will be a valuable lesson those proud seniors can provide for down the road.

One senior who has been on a serious roll for the Lions is All-American tailback De De Dorsey. The term “workhorse” is applicable in this case—the speedy Oklahoman has now rushed for exactly 1000 yards on the season, and he has taken the rock 100 times in the last three games. Dorsey is averaging 6.83 yards per carry over those three games, leads the nation in all-purpose yardage per game, and is gaining steam as the season rolls on.

The Lions plan to get a good look at his heir apparent, outstanding freshman Leonard Durant, over the next five games, but there is no question that Dorsey is the man on offense for LU. And, it’s not like the record-setting defense from last year has totally disappeared—Evangel sophomore quarterback Derek Rasmussen came in averaging 289 yards per game in the air, but was rattled and could only manage 42 against tough-as-nails junior safety Marcus Klund and the LU secondary. Lest anyone forget, this is still a hugely talented football team wearing black this weekend.

In some parallel universe, the Lions are probably 6-0, and on their way to the season everyone envisioned. Here in reality, it’s time for Klund, Dorsey and the rest of the Lions to play on—and maybe spoil someone’s year.