Box Score Kearney, Neb. – The Lindenwood Lions scored 28 second quarter points and got 144 rushing yards from senior Caleb Campbell to beat Nebraska-Kearney, 35-14, Saturday afternoon at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium.

With the win, the LWU (2-7) stops a seven-game losing streak and takes a 3-2 series lead over the Lopers (1-8). Prior to today, the home team had won each game in the series.

This contest featured the all-time career tackle leaders in NCAA history in Lindenwood senior linebacker Connor Harris (599) and UNK senior Tyke Kozeal (560). While Kozeal had five more tackles (14-9) today, Harris returned a tipped ball 18 yards for a score to cap the Lions big second quarter. He also punted twice (31.0 avg.) and made all five PAT's he attempted.

Thing started out fine for UNK as its first drive went 55 yards in nine plays and ended when sophomore back Luke Quinn (Scottsdale, Ariz.) tossed a six-yard shovel pass to freshman back Lorenz Allen (Manatee, Fla.) for six points. The play came out of the "Wild Loper" formation and was Quinn's second completion in as many weeks.

"We started well in the first quarter. That's something we talked about this week; getting off to a fast start and we scored relatively quickly. And then we went into a lull in the second quarter," said UNK head coach Josh Lamberson.  

Lindenwood, alternating between senior Allen Thigpen and freshman Alex Faddoul at quarterback, punted the first three times it had the ball. But the Lions then had TD drives of 70, 46 and 78 yards to take a 21-7 lead with 4:24 left in the second quarter.

A couple of unsportsmanlike penalties aided the first and second scoring drives.

"We had some silly penalties, some silly mistakes on offense that ultimately led to a 28 point quarter," said Lamberson. "The penalties extended their drives and put our offense behind the sticks. If you're going to play good football, that's not the recipe to do it."

LWU was on the move again before Campbell fumbled at the Lopers 11-yard line and the loose ball was recovered by sophomore end Tye Spies (Mullen). However, two plays later, senior safety Wesley Thomas had tight coverage on a UNK receiver and batted a pass thrown by redshirt freshman Justin Roberts (Arvada, Colo.).

Harris snagged the ball out of the air and ran into the end zone for a 28-7 lead. Kearney has now been outscored 128-40 in the second quarter this season.

Roberts got the starting nod today and finished 17 of 32 for 126 yards and five INT's. One of the picks came on a "Hail Mary" attempt at the end of the half and almost resulted in a score. Instead, senior corner Bakari Triggs won the jump ball. Early in the fourth quarter, he picked off Roberts at the LWU two-yard line and had a 51-yard return.

The Loper defense forced Lindenwood to punt four straight times to start the second half. While the UNK offense out gained the Lions, 360-325, they had several drives stall past mid field

"Defensively, I thought we played well in the second half. Offensively, disappointed how we played. We need to get better and there's a lot to fix," said Lamberson.

Missing the last few weeks due to injury, Campbell reached his rushing total on 22 carries. Having a long run of 59 yards, he scored from four yards out to make it 14-7.

Faddoul and Thigpen combined to go 11 of 19 for 124 yards, two TD's and no INT's. Five-eight Kendell Sparks had six catches for 44 yards with Fadoul carrying the ball 10 times for 39 yards and one TD.
 

Besides Harris and Triggs, Thomas had nine tackles (five solo) for the Lions with senior end Jonathan Harris at seven tackles, a forced fumble and pass breakup.

After having efforts of 94 and 97 rushing yards the past two weeks, Quinn almost had 100 yards by halftime today. He ended with a career-high 162 on 24 carries with a long gain of 29 yards. Besides that TD toss, Quinn had three catches for 13 yards.

On the season, he now has 855 all-purpose yards and had a hand in 10 of UNK's 23 offensive scores.

"I thought Luke ran extremely hard. Quite frankly, he was a bright spot for us," said Lamberson. "He just gets better and better every week."

Roberts also was effective on the ground to the tune of 63 yards on 15 carries. He completed passes to seven different teammates, led by Minnesota junior Malcolm Moore (six recep., 42 yds.).

Kozeal's day featured eight solo tackles, including one TFL. Spies tallied eight tackles (five solo), half going for lost yardage. Finally, true freshman end Hinwa Allieu (Gaithersburg, Md.) had seven stops.

UNK heads to Pittsburg State (5-4) next Saturday