RENSSELAER, IN. – The Lincoln University football team tallied their first offensive touchdown of the season, but it wasn’t enough, as St. Joseph’s defeated the Blue Tigers, 41-7, Saturday afternoon in the Great Lakes Football Conference opener for Lincoln.
Lincoln (0-5, 0-1 GLFC) remained tough in the early part of the first half, stuffing St. Joseph (3-2, 2-0 GLFC) on several drives before the Pumas mounted a drive midway through the first quarter.
Getting the ball again in Blue Tiger territory, the Pumas moved quick and efficiently, going 49 yards and taking off a little over a minute (1:21) off the clock, capping the short four-play drive on a Jashon Banks five-yard scamper and a following extra point had St. Joseph’s on top 7-0 seven minutes into the game.
The Blue Tigers then began a massive drive that would last into the second quarter. The drive included one key play in which junior quarterback Josh Goffigan hit sophomore Jerrell Anderson for 16 yards on a 3rd-and-15 to keep the drive alive.
Junior TJ Stewart began to find space on the edges, pulling off runs of 11, 12 and 8 to put the Blue Tigers deep into Pumas’ territory at the 21.
Junior AJ Simeon took the following snap on a dive play and found a huge hole to get all the way down to the St. Joseph’s five setting up a first-and-goal.
The Pumas’ defense then rose to the occasion, as two runs by Andre Young were stuffed, Garrett Thiess tried to turn the corner on third down, but lost a yard and on fourth down, the Blue Tigers pitched it to Stewart, but he had three Pumas waiting for him and lost another two yards and Lincoln turned the ball over on downs. In all, the drive racked up 16 plays, 69 yards and chewed up over nine minutes.
The stop gave the Pumas the spark they needed, as they would go on to score on their next two offensive possessions and capitalized on a Blue Tiger miscue running in a fumble recovery to expand the lead to 27-0 at halftime.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Blue Tiger offense would mount another long drive, expect this time they would find the end zone.
Two 15-yard penalties on St. Joseph’s helped keep the Blue Tiger offense on the field and they took advantage.
Following the 15-yard defensive pass interference had Lincoln out at midfield, Simeon pieced together 22 yards on two carries to put Lincoln inside the 20.
Lincoln would once again get the ball inside the five and after Young was stopped short at the one and Goffigan was denied on the keeper, the Blue Tigers dialed up another keeper to Goffigan and this time he pounded his way in the give Lincoln their first offensive touchdown near the end of the fourth quarter.
This time, the Blue Tigers stayed on the field for a little over eight minutes, going 76 yards on 14 plays.
Simeon had the top yardage on the ground for Lincoln, taking the ball 10 times for 78 yards. Young, who was stuffed throughout the first half, broke free in the second half, tallying 55 yards on 20 carries. Stewart also had a nice game, rushing for 51 yards on 9 carries, as Lincoln as a team pounded out 174 yards of rushing.
Banks had a huge game on the ground for the Pumas, rushing for 155 yards on just 23 carries, tallying a pair of touchdowns. Banks also caught the most passes on the afternoon, snagging three from quarterback Mike Hladik, but recorded just nine yards.
The Blue Tigers will now get the chance to play a pair of home games over the next two weeks, as they will welcome in LaGrange to Dwight T. Reed Stadium next Saturday, October 3 with kickoff set for 1 p.m. CT.