The Lindenwood offense sets up for a play against the Angelo State defense during Thursday’s NCAA Division II season opener at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles. (Photo: Cedric Williams)

Scoring by Quarter1234T
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by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

ST. CHARLES, MO. – It had been almost two full years since the last time the Lindenwood University football team had played an actual game against an actual opponent other than themselves. The Lions were forced to sit out the 2020 fall and 2021 spring seasons due to the covid pandemic.

But Thursday night at Hunter Stadium, Lindenwood was back in action and hosting its 2021 fall home opener against Angelo State, a team that didn’t play last fall either, but did play a shortened season this past spring.

And unfortunately for the Lions, they looked like a team that hadn’t played a game in a long time, while Angelo State looked like a team that had, as the Rams took an early lead and held it throughout, on its way to a 40-20 win over Lindenwood.

“It’s one of those things where, does that make a difference?” Lindenwood head coach Jed Stugart said of the long lay off for his team. “I don’t want to use that on our kids, or bail them out, and use that as an excuse. It’s football and you’ve got to be ready to play. Maybe that was a factor, but I don’t think so.”

It certainly seemed like a factor, especially early on, when a couple of Lindenwood mistakes led to some early scores for Angelo State.

First, after downing a punt at the Lindenwood 3 yard line, the Rams were able to swarm Lindenwood running back Nash Sutherlin in his own end zone on a run play that resulted in a safety for the visitors. Then, on the ensuing position, a lapse in coverage on a pass play, allowed Angelo State’s Zorhan Rideaux to get behind the Lindenwood defense for a 69 yard gain that set up the game’s first touchdown — a 2 yard run by ASU’s Nathaniel Omayebu.

But that wasn’t all. On the first play of Lindenwood’s next possession, ASU defensive back Andrew Pitts intercepted a pass from LU’s Cade Brister and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown that sent the Rams sideline into frenzy as they took a 16-0 lead.

“Just too many mistakes,” Stugart said. “We knew when we took on this game that we were going to be playing a very good football team, and we just made too many mistakes, on both sides of the ball tonight.”

Late in the first quarter, the Lindenwood defense helped spark a rally. All-American linebacker Drew Seers intercepted a pass to give the Lions possession at their own 39. Five plays later, after a key third down scramble kept the drive alive, Brister found a wide open Tyson Chandler for a 35 yard touchdown pass to get the Lions on the board.

Angelo State answered with another touchdown run by Omayebu late in the second quarter and it looked like Lindenwood would go into halftime down by three scores. But a muffed punt by the Rams gave Lindenwood possession deep in Angelo State territory.

And Brister didn’t waste his chance, as he found Alex Faddoul for a 24 yard touchdown that made the score 23-14 heading into halftime.

“They gave us some opportunities and I was proud of how our guys clawed their way back and took advantage of them,” Stugart said. “This thing could’ve gotten away from us in the first half, but we showed some resolve and some fight and kind of clawed our way back a little bit. It was nice to see.”

The second half though, was all Angelo State, as the Rams scored quick touchdowns on its first two possessions to go up 37-14 and turn the game into a bit of a blowout.

“That was tough,” Stugart said. “You know, we’ve got a goal of where we want to go. And the quality of opponents we’re gonna face is gonna be tough. These are the kind of opponents we wanna face and be competing against because we want to be a playoff team. So we took on a very good football team and now we’ve got to not hang our heads and get back to work to get ready for our next game.”

Brister, who threw the two first-half touchdown passes, also had a rushing touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to make the score 37-20. But Angelo State added on a field goal late in the game to make sure there would be no dramatic comebacks on this night.

Lindenwood (0-1) will get a chance to bounce back next week, when it goes on the road to Brookings, S.D., for a game on Saturday, September 11 against NCAA Division I FCS opponent, South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits were ranked No. 3 in the preseason FCS national poll.

“Again, that’s another tough opponent,” Stugart said. “But that’s just another opportunity for us to go play a really quality football team in a great environment. A lot of that is just an opportunity to give our kids a chance to go play in such a good environment like that. Eight days is plenty enough time for us to rest up, heal up, and just get ready to go. I’m excited to get up there and rebound and just give it our best effort.”

Lindenwood’s next home game is Saturday, September 18 at Hunter Stadium, when the Lions will host Kentucky Wesleyan in their Great Lakes Valley Conference opener. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Angelo State vs. Lindenwood — Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
9:22 – ASU – SAFETY – tackle in end zone — ASU 2-0
7:54 – ASU – TOUCHDOWN – Nathaniel Omayebu 2 yd run (Asa Fuller PAT) — ASU 9-0
7:41 – ASU – TOUCHDOWN – Andrew Pitts 26 yd INT return (Asa Fuller PAT) — ASU 16-0
1:52 – LU – TOUCHDOWN – Tyson Chandler 35 yd pass from Cade Brister (Logan Siebert PAT) — ASU 16-7
2nd Quarter
5:47 – ASU – TOUCHDOWN – Nathaniel Omayebu 8 yd run (Asa Fuller PAT) — ASU 23-7
:07 – LU – TOUCHDOWN – Alex Faddoul 24 yd pass from Cade Brister (Logan Siebert PAT) — ASU 23-14
3rd Quarter
9:03 – ASU – TOUCHDOWN – C.J. Odom 46 yd run (Asa Fuller PAT) — ASU 30-14
:43 – ASU – TOUCHDOWN – Zorhan Rideaux 7 yd pass from Zach Bronkhorst (Asa Fuller PAT) — ASU 37-14
4th Quarter
6:42 – LU – TOUCHDOWN – Cade Brister 2 yd run (2-pt attempt failed) — ASU 37-20
3:00 – ASU – FIELD GOAL – Asa Fuller 27 yd field goal — ASU 40-20