Lindenwood’s Jeff Caldwell, Jr. caught five passes and scored four touchdowns in the Lions’ 43-40 win over Western Illinois last Saturday. (Photo courtesy: WIU Athletics)
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
It was a full schedule around the Big South-OVC Football Association on Saturday, with every team in the league in action, including the second conference game of the season which saw Tennessee State use a late field goal to upend Gardner-Webb.
Perhaps the most thrilling game of the weekend was Lindenwood’s come-from-behind win over Western Illinois. The Lions trailed 31-14 at halftime, but outscored the Leathernecks 29-9 in the second half to pull off the win.
LINDENWOOD 43, WESTERN ILLINOIS 40 | BOX SCORE
QB Cole Dugger and WR Jeff Caldwell, Jr. had huge nights for Lindenwood. Dugger completed 16-of-22 passes for 270 yards, five touchdowns passes, and a two-point conversion. Four of those scores went to Caldwell, who caught touchdowns for 39, 40, 72, and 16 yards, and finished the night with five catches for 185 yards.
Western Illinois got the ball back with just over a minute to play, but was unable to move the ball. Lindenwood is now 2-1 on the season.
TENNESSEE STATE 27, GARDNER-WEBB 25 | BOX SCORE
The Tennessee State football team took down Gardner-Webb 27-25 in the John Merritt Classic on Saturday evening for their first Big South-OVC win of the year. After a 16 yard passing TD from GWU to go up 25-24, the Tigers, led by kicker James Lowery would tack on three more points with 12 seconds left as he connected on a career-long 50-yard FG to push TSU to the win.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 14, #25 ILLINOIS STATE 13 | BOX SCORE
Eastern Illinois quarterback Pierce Holley completed his first 20-passes of the game breaking a Panthers school record set by current Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton in 1986. Holley then completed seven of his final nine passes leading EIU on a game winning drive with 92 seconds remaining as the Panthers won the 111th Mid-America Classic 14-13 over No. 25 Illinois State.
#18 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 26, #15 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 25 | BOX SCORE
Nic Baker threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Izaiah Hartrup on a fourth down with 11 seconds left as #18 Southern Illinois (3-0) pulled off a 26-25 come-from-behind win over #15 Southeast Missouri (1-2) Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 8,613 at Houck Field. The Salukis trailed the entire game until the final 11 ticks on the clock. Paxton DeLaurent completed 26-of-46 passes for 251 yards and one touchdown, and Geno Hess ran for 99 yards and one score to lead SEMO offensively.
TENNESSEE-MARTIN 66, HOUSTON CHRISTIAN 7 | BOX SCORE
Kinkead Dent threw for 347 yards and accounted for six touchdowns (5 passing, 1 rushing) as UT Martin tallied 707 yards of total offense in a blowout win over Houston Christian. Sam Franklin added 127 yards and a touchdown for the Skyhawks.
BROWN 29, BRYANT 25 | BOX SCORE
Ryan Clark ran 5 yards for a touchdown with 63 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs (1-2) a 25-22 lead. But Jake Willcox needed just six plays and 43 seconds to march Brown 76 yards for the winning score with 13 seconds remaining. Zevi Eckhaus finished with 262 yards on 20-of-37 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
#4/4 WILLIAM & MARY 15, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 7 | BOX SCORE
Charleston Southern football saw its second-straight contest against a nationally-ranked program Saturday evening, falling to #4 William & Mary, 15-7, at Buccaneer Field in a low-scoring affair. Nivon Holland’s kick return for a touchdown marks just the second time in program history that a kick was taken 100 yards to the house for a score. The last time it happened came back in 2010 as Gerald Stevenson did it at Buccaneer Field against Liberty. Holland’s house call started two yards deep in his own endzone, but it goes in the books as a 100-yard return.
NORTH ALABAMA 20, TENNESSEE TECH 7 | BOX SCORE
Jacquez McGowan returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown but Tennessee Tech came up short in its home opener at Tucker Stadium. Brad Clark had six catches for 106 yards for the Golden Eagles. Hayes Gibson passed for a team-high 133 yards for the Golden Eagles.
#25 YOUNGSTOWN STATE 48, ROBERT MORRIS 28 | BOX SCORE
The RMU football team concluded the road portion of its 2023 non-conference schedule Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown, Ohio, falling to Youngstown, 48-28. Anthony Chiccitt finished 19-for-31 passing for 171 yards and a pair of scores, hitting eight different receivers in the process. In his two starts this season, Chiccitt has completed 68.9 percent (40-for-58) of his passes for 452 yards and five touchdowns.
BigSouthOVCFootball.com contributed to this story.
WEEK 4 BIG SOUTH-OVC FOOTBALL – Saturday, September 23, 2023
| Away | Home | Time | Location | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Lindenwood |  Illinois State | 12:00 PM | Normal, Ill. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
 Charleston Southern |  Western Carolina | 1:30 PM | Cullowhee, N.C. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
 McNeese |  Eastern Illinois | 2:00 PM | Charleston, Ill. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
 Lynchburg |  Robert Morris | 2:00 PM | Moon Township, Pa. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
 Bryant |  Princeton | 2:00 PM | Princeton, N.J. | Stats |
 Gardner-Webb |  East Carolina | 5:00 PM | Greenville, N.C. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
 Kennesaw State |  Tennessee Tech | 6:00 PM | Cookeville, Tenn. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
 UT Martin |  North Alabama | 6:00 PM | Florence, Ala. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
 Southeast Missouri |  Eastern Kentucky | 6:00 PM | Richmond, Ky. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |