Lindenwood Overpowered In Loss To No. 9 Central Arkansas

ST. CHARLES — The Lindenwood University football team lost its 2024 home opener, Saturday night at Hunter Stadium, when it was defeated 34-13 by No. 9-ranked Central Arkansas.

The Bears put up 554 yards of total offense, including 333 passing yards and a touchdown by quarterback Will McElvain and 126 rushing yards and three total touchdowns by running back ShunDerrick Powell, to turn an early deficit into a blowout win over the Lions.

“It’s a frustrating loss tonight,” Lindenwood head coach Jed Stugart said. “I feel like we are actually in a position that we are better than what we looked out there. I want us to have that mindset that we belong on the field with teams like that. We saw flashes of what we can do and it comes down to consistent football.”

Things did look that way in the first quarter, when Lindenwood’s defense stymied Central Arkansas’ offense and held the Bears scoreless.

The Lions scored first and led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter. The 33-yard field goal by Logan Seibert was set up by receiver Jeff Caldwell’s spectacular 40-yard catch and run that gave Lindenwood the ball on Central Arkansas’ 35.

Lindenwood’s Steve Hall (22) gets tackled after a bruising run in Saturday’s NCAA Football game against Central Arkansas at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles. (Photo: Cedric Williams)

The Bears answered with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by Powell. Central Arkansas went for two, but McElvain was stopped short of the goal line, leaving the Bears with a 6-3 lead.

Powell broke free for a 55-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter that sent the game to halftime with Central Arkansas up 13-3.

Lindenwood played some of its best ball of the night during the first half of the third quarter. The defense forced a Central Arkansas three-and-out, then the offense drove all the way down to the Central Arkansas 1-yard line. But on third-and-goal from the 1, running back Cortezz Jones was tackled for a two-yard loss.

That forced the Lions to kick a field goal — a 20-yarder by Seibert — but it did pull LU to within 13-6. That was as close as the Lions would get.

Central Arkansas scored three touchdowns in the game’s remaining 20 minutes to turn what had been a close game into a blowout.

The Lindenwood Lions defense lines up against the Central Arkansas offense during Saturday’s NCAA Football game at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles. (Photo: Cedric Williams)

Lindenwood’s offense was led by quarterback Nate Glantz, who completed 17-of-33 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown. Caldwell had six catches for 99 yards, while Jones and freshman running back Steve Hall combined for 95 rushing yards on 16 carries.

Glantz’s touchdown pass was a 4-yard toss to sophomore Reece Thomas.

Defensively, the Lions were led by the linebacker trio of Devon Edwards, Ethan Stuhlsatz, and Vincent King, who had 12 tackles, 11 tackles, and 11 tackles, respectively. Stuhlsatz also had 1.5 tackles for loss and forced a fumble.

Lindenwood QB Nate Glantz drops back to pass during Saturday’s NCAA Football game at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles. (Photo: Cedric Williams)

Lindenwood (0-2) will be on the road in Week 3. The Lions will travel to Springfield, where they will take on Missouri State, next Saturday night at 6 p.m.

2024 LINDENWOOD LIONS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 14 -- at Missouri State -- 6 pm
Sept. 21 -- vs. St. Thomas -- 1 pm
Sept. 28 -- at Eastern Illinois* -- 2 pm
Oct. 5 -- vs. Tennessee State* -- 1 pm
Oct. 12 -- vs. Charleston Southern* -- 1 pm
Oct. 19 -- at Gardner-Webb* -- 3 pm
Oct. 26 -- vs. Western Illinois* -- 2 pm
Nov. 2 -- at Tennessee Tech* -- 1:30 pm
Nov. 9 -- vs. SEMO* -- 1 pm
Nov. 23 -- at Tennessee-Martin* -- 2 pm
* - denotes Big South-OVC Football Association game