In every championship season, there is a turning point - a place where a team finds itself facing paths that lead in very different directions. For the Lindenwood University football team, the turning point for the 2005 season may have come on Saturday night in faraway southwestern Iowa.

Playing with heart and fire, in the lair of the 8th-ranked team in the country, the Lions made a statement to the rest of the HAAC that the reports of their demise might have been somewhat premature. Behind a record-breaking performance by senior tailback De De Dorsey, the Lions rolled up 470 yards in total offense while dominating previously unbeaten Graceland, 42-27.

"We were able to set the tone early, that we were going to run the football on them no matter what they did," said LU head coach Patrick Ross. "They have great athletes on both sides of the ball, and we knew we had to keep their offense off the field. Our offensive line did an amazing job, and Dorsey was just awesome."

That would be an accurate assessment of the senior from Broken Arrow, Okla., on this night - all Dorsey did was take the rock 43 times, rush for 271 yards and a school-record six TD's, and complete a critical halfback pass in the fourth quarter for 27 yards and a first down to keep a late scoring drive alive. He was named the HAAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday morning, with possible national honors to follow later in the afternoon.

The first half was particularly telling in this one. The Lions scored first on Jared Tatom's 38-yd. field goal halfway through the first period, then marched 77 yards in nine plays on their next possession, scoring on Dorsey's 22-yd. run on the first play of the second quarter.

That first TD of six was typical of how well the Lions blocked on the night - on an option play to the right, Dorsey was untouched into the end zone behind crushing blocks by fullback Chris Simmons, tight end Bryant Calloway and right tackle Brandon Reynolds. Dorsey would end the first half with 174 yards on 20 carries, including a dazzling 58-yard TD sprint later in the second quarter, while the Yellowjackets managed a total of -7 rushing yards before intermission.

The Yellowjackets finally got on the board right before halftime, rolling 66 yards in four plays behind outstanding junior quarterback Clayton Braddock, making it 16-7 at intermission. Braddock played well, but was harassed enough by the swarming Lion defense to complete only 16 of his 35 pass attempts.

"I thought we played very well defensively in the first half, right up until their last possession," said Ross. "They have some weapons, so you're not going to shut them out, but we answered the bell defensively when we had to."

A key special teams blunder early in the second half put the Lions up 23-7, as Graceland's first punt attempt after halftime resulted in a bad snap which ended up giving LU the ball at the Jacket three-yd. line. Dorsey pounded in on the first play, and the Lions again had their two-score cushion.

Graceland tailback Demetrius Cox, who ran well in the second half and ended up with 134 rushing yards on 22 carries, scored next to bring the Jackets back within nine. As was the pattern on the night, the Lions answered again with an eight-play, 67-yd. drive which ended with a Dorsey TD at the 4:47 mark of the third period, making it 29-14.

"One thing that was huge was the fact that every time they made a move, we were able to answer with a scoring drive," said Ross. "They never had the ball with a chance to take the lead after we went ahead 10-0, and that's what you have to do in order to beat a good team on the road."

Graceland scored the first two TD's on the final period, one on a Clayton pass to Anthony Ferguson, then moving to within 29-27 on Cox's one-yard run with 8:48 remaining in the game. A two-point pass attempt was broken up by Lion sophomore Bobby Mason, and LU promptly reeled off an eight-play, 80-yd. drive that ended with Dorsey's fifth TD of the game at the 5:24 mark.

One of the game's most critical plays came on that drive. Facing a third-and-eight from their own 22, the Lions pulled a rabbit out of the hat, as Dorsey completed a 27-yard halfback pass to junior Steven Kennedy to keep the drive alive. On the next play, Kennedy grabbed another pass from sophomore QB Brent Hodgkiss, taking it to the GU 33-yd. line, giving him seven catches for 138 yards on the night.

Dorsey did the rest of the work from there, making it 35-27. Graceland would have two more possessions after that, the last one ending when Braddock was intercepted by LU senior Jake Sharp, who returned his pick to the Jacket 8-yd. line with 2:20 left in the game. Dorsey - who else? - hammered in from the one on the third play after the interception, and the celebration began on the Lion sideline.

"We're proud of how our team has reacted to the adversity of starting 0-2, coming back to beat the 13th- and 8th-ranked teams in the country the last two weeks," said Ross. "A team with less character would have folded under the pressure of that bad start, but it's a credit to our players and coaches that we weathered that storm and are right back in the hunt. This conference is so tough, though, that it's not going to get any easier."

Next up for the Lions is a 2-2 William Jewell team which lost on Saturday at home to Culver-Stockton, 30-14. Game time is set for 6:00 on Saturday night at Lindenwood University Stadium.