The Lindenwood football team (7-3) closed out the 2022 season with a 63-35 win over McKendree (5-6) on Saturday inside Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Mo.
GAME OVERVIEW
The Lions started the game with a defensive stop, before quickly marching down the field for the first score of the game. Cade Brister found Payton Rose on a 15-yard strike to make it an early 7-0 lead. McKendree answered on the next drive, but the Lions offense was rolling early as Brister capped off the first quarter with a seven-yard touchdown scamper.
After a touchdown run by the Bearcats early in the second quarter, Brister notched his second score on the ground to make it a 21-14 lead. Just two plays into the next McKendree drive, Lloyd Lockett picked off his fourth pass of his career to spark the Lions. Brister took the Lions on a quick six-play 93-yard drive that ended with another touchdown run for the senior quarterback. The defense forced a three-and-out, and a beautiful one-handed touchdown catch by Rose put the Lions ahead 35-14 after two quarters of play.
McKendree was able to recover a loose ball on the kickoff to open the second half, and scored five plays later to make it a 14-point game. Brister connected with Rose for the third time to give the Lions a 42-21 advantage. The Bearcats stayed in the game with a long touchdown run, making it a 14-point deficit yet again. Lindenwood took up little time on the next drive, which was capped off with a 26-yard touchdown run by Andrew Martin to extend the lead.
After the defense forced a punt, Lindenwood began to eat up clock and made it into the red zone. The Lions had first-and-goal at the five-yard line when Brister threw the ball back to the athletic offensive lineman Blake Rogenhofer who registered the first touchdown of his career. McKendree was able to cut the Lindenwood lead to 56-35, but the Lions capped off the scoring with a touchdown run by Martin.
Lindenwood ran for 362 yards and six touchdowns in the game. The Lions converted on all six third downs, and scored on 8-of-9 trips to the red zone. The well-balanced offense gained 18 first downs by rushing, and 17 in the passing game. Lindenwood rushed for 362 yards and racked up a total of 631 offensive yards, averaging 9.6 per play.
Brister ended his Lindenwood career with over 2,000 rushing yards, as the O’Fallon, Mo. native collected 145 on Saturday. Martin led all rushers with 152 yards on the ground while reaching the end zone twice. Rose hauled with 10 passes for a total of 131 yards and three touchdowns. Spencer Redd tallied 118yards on five kickoff returns, as he nearly broke free on his long return of 46 yards.
Defensively, Chase Giorgi led all tacklers with 11 total, as he added 0.5 tackles for loss with one pass breakup. Dylan Petti had a career game with seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and one sack. Lloyd Lockett closed out his tenure in St. Charles with one interception, two pass breakups, and made one stop behind the line of scrimmage. Kobe McClendon ended his quality season with 2.0 tackles for loss with 1.5 sacks, and two quarterback hurries.
Lindenwood ended its first season as a NCAA Division I program with seven wins, as two of its three losses came to teams ranked in the top-25 at the FCS level.
GAME LEADERS
Cade Brister (24-for-31, 269 pass yards, 3 pass TD, 145 rush yards, 3 rush TD)
Payton Rose (10 catches, 131 yards, 3 TD)
Andrew Martin (13 rushes, 152 yards, 2 TD, 12 receiving yards)
Dylan Petti (7 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1.0 sacks)
Kobe McClendon (4 tackles, 2.0 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 2 QBH)
Lloyd Lockett (5 tackles, 1 INT, 2 PBU, 1 TFL)
