HAAC News
Sat, Nov 17, 2007 - [Football] - Viewed 478 times
Hakeem Abdullah had 113 all-purpose yards against Saint Francis (Ind.).
Hakeem Abdullah had 113 all-purpose yards against Saint Francis (Ind.).
Nov. 17, 2007- The 12th-ranked Lindenwood football team started out strong, but fifth-ranked Saint Francis came back and won its 45th straight home game in a 35-14 victory over the Lions during the first-round NAIA Championship Series game in Fort Wayne, Ind. 

The Lions made it look easy in the first quarter as they scored touchdowns on each of their first two possessions Richard Murrell finished both of the drives with rushing touchdowns of three and 14 yards.
 

Saint Francis got back into the game and took the lead thanks to some great field possession. The Cougars started four straight drives inside Lindenwood territory and scored touchdowns on three of them.

The first score came after a Lindenwood punt which gave Saint Francis the ball on the Lions’ 49. Jeff Wedding hooked up with Doug Wasylk for a 17-yard pass completion to put the Cougars on the scoreboard. After a Lions fumble, Wedding tied the game with another passing touchdown, this one to Jeremiah Wood for 11 yards.

On Lindenwood’s next possession, a bad snap on a punt gave Saint Francis possession just 25 yards away from the endzone. It reached it three plays later on a touchdown by Taylor Vieck which made the score 21-14 in favor of the Cougars.

The Lions nearly answered late in the second-quarter, but they were stopped on a fourth-and-one play on the Saint Francis 12-yard line.

The story of the second-half was Saint Francis holding onto the ball for the majority of the half. The Cougars had a time of possession of 24:30 in the final two periods, and had four drives of 10 plays or longer.

In the first possession, the Cougars went on a 10-play, 75-yard drive to make the score 28-14. That drive ended when Marcus Rush scored on an 11-yard run.

Lindenwood had one more chance to get back into the game early in the fourth when it went on an eight-play, 58-yard drive to get in the Saint Francis red zone. Once again, though, it came up just inches short on a fourth-and-one play and turned the ball over.

The Cougars answered with an 11-play drive to put the game away. Saint Francis made it 35-14 when Doug Wasylk had a 27-yard touchdown run.

Lindenwood finished with 281 yards of total offense, with 134 yards coming during its first two drives. Saint Francis had 445 yards of total offense, including 274 on the ground.

Hakeem Abdullah finished the day for Lindenwood with 81 yards rushing and 32 yards receiving. Murrell had 50 yards rushing and the two scores. Quarterback Ben Kisner completed 17-of-27 passes for 158 yards.
Defensively, Jared Shoemaker had 16 tackles and one pass breakup. Dan Carlisle, Jamil Abdullah and Tyler Kasper all had double-figure tackles as well.
 
Saint Francis’s Wedding finished with 141 passing yards and two touchdowns. Vieck and Wasylk combined for 142 rushing yards and a pair of scores.
 
Jarrell Hunter had a team-high 11 tackles for the Cougars, including two for losses. Sam Miles had 10 tackles and a forced fumble, and Donavon Evans had the team’s interception.
 
Game Notes: Lindenwood ends its season with a 10-2 record, the second-best mark in school history … Saint Francis improves to 10-1 overall … NFL prospect Zac Atterberry played his final game as a Lion, averaging 42.0 yards for his three punts … Lindenwood head coach Pat Ross ends the year with a coaching record of 33-14 at the school. This season, he became the school’s all-time victories leader, won his second conference title and advanced to the NAIA Championship Series for the second time in four years.