Heading into the last week of September, there is only one Heart of America Athletic Conference team remaining with an unblemished record. Surprisingly enough - to everyone outside the program, that is - that team belongs to Lindenwood University.

Using a familiar formula - a big play offense and a blitzing, aggressive defense - the Lions disposed of Evangel University on Saturday afternoon in St. Charles, Mo., by a not-as-close-as-it-sounds margin of 35-21.

"We put together a pretty complete effort against a good football team," said LU head coach Patrick Ross. "We've been preaching to the guys that we need to just worry about ourselves and our own execution, and good things will happen. That was the case today."

Greg Morris led the Lions with 127 yards on 22 carries, taking over for Derron Parquet, who left early in the second quarter with a minor injury after putting up 82 yards and a TD on his first five carries.

Sophomore wideouts Steven Kennedy and George Mumphard were the other offensive stars for LU - Kennedy with eight catches for 129 yards (2 TD's) and Mumphard with eight for 103 yards (1 TD). Senior quarterback Emiliano Salazar finished 18-of-31 for 248 yards and the three scoring throws. Overall, the Lions racked up 463 yards in total offense, rolling out to a 35-7 lead early in the third quarter before the reserves wrapped it up.

Once again, the Lions bolted out in front with the big play - Parquet opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 59-yd. run, then junior free safety De De Dorsey ended Evangel's next possession with a 48-yd. fumble return for a TD, making it 14-0 with 39 seconds left in the opening period.

A short run by EU tailback Demetric Phillips made it 14-7 in the second, but the Lions answered with two scoring passes to their sophomore receivers in the final 1:43 of the first half to break the Crusaders' backs - the first one a 25-yarder to Kennedy, then the second one a 20-yarder to Mumphard with 1.4 seconds left before the buzzer.

The Lions' final score of the day came early in the third when Salazar again found Kennedy behind the EU secondary, this time for a 53-yd. TD. Dorsey was a huge factor again with nine tackles, blocking his second FG of the season to go with his second TD fumble return of the year.

Junior defensive end Ismael Seals also had a monster game for the LU defense, sacking Sooter four times, and recording four other tackles in the Crusader backfield. Sophomore strong safety Marcus Klund posted 14 tackles, forced two fumbles and grabbed an interception, while junior linebacker Evan Brinker recorded 11 tackles.

The Lions, now 3-0 overall and in the Heart, will travel to Fayette, Mo., next Saturday afternoon for a road matchup with Central Methodist, which stands at 2-1 in league play.