Davenport and Lindenwood met up Saturday for the Labry Memorial Shield game between the two teams.

This was also a Mid-South Conference game, of course, but is named after Charles Labry, a former Lindenwood player who was struck and killed by a vehicle in 2014 - the accident happened just before a Lindenwood-Davenport game, and the meeting between the two teams has been in his honor ever since.

In this game, Davenport took an early lead with a try, and led 12-6 late. But two quick passes and some aggressive running from Morgan Findlay put the fullback in at the corner to make it 12-11. And then, with about ten minutes to go, Davenport was pressuring, and seemed to have won a ruck, but the ball squirted out the side. Wing Deion Mikesell didn’t have to be asked twice, and the recently-capped Lindenwood Lion swooped in, gathered the ball, and raced for what would be the game-winner at 18-12.

“We expected Davenport to come out and play hard and Saturday night was no exception,” said Lindenwood Coach JD Stephenson. “They retained possession well, competed at the breakdown, and carried the ball well. They made it tough for us to get out of our red zone. We had a few deficiencies and were a bit lazy at ruck time, but it was more because Davenport came out firing.”

Lindenwood had expected to use their backline to find some space and score some tries, but Davenport’s defense was very good, while the Lions seemed to run a bit too sideways as a result.

Only Lindenwood’s set piece was operating well, and, said Stephenson, “it kept us in the game.”

“It was a tough one to lose after leading for the first 70 minutes,” added Davenport Coach James Wood. “But we got a little bit loose with the ball and with the type of athleticism Lindenwood has, one small handling error can turn into a 60-meter try to sink you in a hurry. We’ll shake it off, learn from our mistakes, and move forward, because that’s all you can do.”

Wood said his Panthers are still finding their feet, but they did a better job of building phases than they did in losses to Arkansas State and Life, kicked better, and was smarter in defense.

For Lindenwood, Mikesell was happy to make such a huge contribution, especially after scoring a try for the USA in his debut - just two weeks after another Lindenwood freshman, Lorenzo Thomas, did the same.

For Mikesell, who played only 7s in high school in Iowa, it was part of a wild 2016 for him.

“We looked at it and realized this is like his 7th or 8th game of 15s,” said Stephenson. “But those games have been against opponents like Life, St. Mary’s, Canada’s U20s, and Uruguay. For him and Lorenzo, the true test of character comes with what you do from there - getting a first cap. He and Lorenzo have worked their tails off since they got back from playing with the Eagles, and it shows the kind of character they have.”