Lindenwood defensive players Moses Ale (8), Dylan Petti (56), and others celebrate after recovering a fumble that helped clinched the program’s first win as an NCAA Division-I team, Saturday night in a game against Houston Baptist. (Photo courtesy: Lindenwood Athletics)

Team1st2nd3rd4thTotal
 Lindenwood (1-0)606921
Houston Baptist (1-1)7103020

Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

HOUSTON, TX — There were probably a thousand different ways the players, coaches, and staff of the Lindenwood University football team imagined their first game as an NCAA Division-I FCS team might go. But there’s no way any of them could’ve predicted it would end the way it did.

Their opponent, Houston Baptist University, was ahead by five points with 28 seconds left and looking to punt the ball away and force Lindenwood to have to try to drive the entire field, just a few seconds left, to try to win the game. But Lindenwood’s heralded punt return unit came up big in the biggest moment of the game.

And they didn’t do it with a miraculous punt return for a touchdown. Instead, the Lions blocked the punt, watched it roll into the Houston Baptist end zone, then recovered it for a touchdown that proved to be the game-winning score in an exhilarating 21-20 Lindenwood victory.

“Although we made mistakes in the first half, you could just tell in the second half that our guys kept believing,” Lindenwood head coach Jed Stugart said. “We always talk about special teams winning games, and we knew if we were in a position in the fourth quarter that we were going to win the game. The special teams unit, the block party, made a big play to win the game.”

Sophomore wide receiver Jalen Bethany is the player who broke through the Houston Baptist line and blocked the punt, and fellow sophomore Andrew Martin is the one who recovered the ball for the touchdown that set off the first of two wide celebrations on the Lindenwood sideline.

The second one came just a couple plays later, when Houston Baptist was trying to drive the ball into field goal range and possibly attempt a last-second field goal.

But Lindenwood freshman Donnie Wingate broke through the Huskie offensive line and sacked quarterback Justin Fomby, who fumbled the ball and could only watch as fellow Lindenwood freshman David Whittemore recovered it to effectively end any chance of a Houston Baptist comeback.

The thrilling finish was a culmination of a dominate defensive second half by the Lions, who trailed 17-6 at halftime, but held the Huskies to just three points in the final 30 minutes, until its offense and special teams could make the plays the team needed to pull out the win.

Overall, Houston Baptist outgained Lindenwood 384 yards to 359. But the Huskies did most of their damage in the first half, while the Lions controlled the second half — outgaining the home team 201 yards to just 81 yards.

The primary offensive standouts for Lindenwood were its running backs, Martin and sophomore starter Robert Giaimo, who rushed for a game-high 108 yards on 20 carries.

Martin had 49 yards on nine carries and scored both Lindenwood touchdowns — one on a four-yard run play early in the third quarter and then again later on the blocked punt that won the game.

Senior quarterback Cade Brister had a tough night against Houston Baptist’s constantly blitzing defense. He was held to 181 passing yards, with no touchdowns, and was sacked four times.

Brister did rush for 46 yards on several key plays that helped the Lions convert five third downs. And he also made sure the LU offense didn’t have any turnovers, which kept them in position to win the game late.

Defensively, sophomore linebacker Tyrone Griffin led the way with nine tackles, two pass breakups, and a huge quarterback early in the third quarter that helped set up another big play by the Lindenwood defense on the next play.

Senior safety Lloyd Lockett blasted Houston Baptist’s Ishmail Mahdi on a run play, inside the Lindenwood red zone, the ball busted loose and was recovered by Lindenwood’s Sterlin Williams.

In an instant, the home team Huskies went from a sure thing to score, to no points at all. Again, another set of plays that kept the Lions close enough to steal the game away at the end.

“We won a little bit ugly,” Stugart said. “But those guys just kept believing in each other and we won with heart.”

After earning its first ever D-I win, Lindenwood will be back home next Saturday, September 17, for its home opener against NAIA powerhouse Keiser University. The Hawks were 9-3 last year and advanced to the second round of the NAIA playoffs.

Kickoff at Hunter Stadium on Saturday is slated for 6 p.m.

SCORING SUMMARY
QtrTimeScoring PlayLUHBU
1st08:46LU – Seibert,Logan 41 yd field goal 11 plays, 67 yards, TOP 04:1630
1st07:33HBU – Walker,Branden 29 yd pass from Fomby,Justin (Arroyo,Alberto kick) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:1337
1st01:53LU – Seibert,Logan 44 yd field goal 12 plays, 48 yards, TOP 05:4067
2nd13:37HBU – Arroyo,Alberto 36 yd field goal 14 plays, 56 yards, TOP 03:16610
2nd01:27HBU – Mahdi,Ismail 17 yd pass from Fomby,Justin (Arroyo,Alberto kick) 10 plays, 73 yards, TOP 02:13617
3rd05:11LU – Martin,Andrew 4 yd run (2-pt conversion failed), 10 plays, 78 yards, TOP 04:341217
3rd02:55HBU – Arroyo,Alberto 41 yd field goal 4 plays, 1 yards, TOP 00:421220
4th14:08LU – Seibert,Logan 44 yd field goal 7 plays, 48 yards, TOP 03:471520
4th00:28LU – Martin,Andrew 0 yd punt return (2-pt conversion failed)2120