A week after Davenport pushed Life University to a one-point game, Lindenwood University traveled to Grand Rapids, Mich. to take on the Panthers.

This was the second of two Mid-South Conference games that Davenport plays in the fall to make its schedule a little easier—the other teams in the conference are able to get on the field earlier in the spring, so these games ensure Davenport can prepare better for spring play.

But this game was not to be as close as last week's Davenport vs Life game. Lindenwood captain Marnus Spangenberg scored two tries and flyhalf Rhys Smith added 15 points from his boot to pace the Lions to a 40-15 victory.

After traveling to New York and falling to Army last week, the Lions turned around and hit the road again. Lindenwood struck first with a score from inside center Kyle Liebenberg. The center took a hard crash line and broke through the Panther backline to stake Lindenwood to an early 7-0 lead. The Lions were able to strike again when Stephan Alberts received a well-timed offload and outran the Panther defense.

Davenport rebounded and managed to time a perfect charge down and block a Lindenwood clearing kick and score—the second straight weekend they'd achieved that. The teams traded penalty goals and then Davenport scored once more to make it 20-15 going into halftime.

The game seemed poised for a tight clash, but instead Lindenwood started to pull away. Smith added his second penalty goal and then a try from Spangenberg followed by another one a few minutes later started to shift the momentum. Lindenwood went to their bench early in the second half and those replacements provided a spark. Kaleb O'Donoghue, Clarence Ekoume-Bienes, and Beorn Graham, all three forwards, brought a physical presence not only in loose play but most noticeably in the scrum. After a yellow card shortened the Lions squad to 14, the Panthers, in an attempt to make up ground, chose for a scrum deep in Lindenwood territory. But a massive push from the Lindenwood pack eventually forced a turnover. Quick ball movement found wing Preston Hammerschmidt in the corner to make the score 40-15 where it remained until the final whistle.

"The first 20 minutes of dominating physicality and set piece, allowed us some great momentum in the first half, leading to two quick tries," said Lindenwood's Liam Smith. "However, we brought Davenport back into the game with some silly mistakes and penalties, which halted our momentum finishing the first half. After using halftime to identify what we needed to improve, we came out firing and brought the pressure back onto Davenports gainline. With our fast pace, constant pressure and unreal set piece, we knew we had the game in the bag."

"I take the most pride in how we attacked the gainline on both attack and defense," added Gabe Kettering. "As a whole, our entire team was aggressive going into contact and wanted to hit. It was a great improvement from the week before and would’ve resulted in a more one sided score if it wasn’t for little mistakes leading to penalties."

Head Coach Josh Macy's Lindenwood team is now 15-1, which includes a couple of 7s games and several games against DII opposition. But they ended their fall with a win over Iowa Central CC, a close loss to Army, and then this victory over Davenport. 

"We're clearly still figuring out our team but I'd much rather do that while winning than losing," said Macy. "I was proud of how our older players created an air of accountability in training this week as we reeled from a loss. Their commitment showed under the lights tonight." 

Both Davenport and Lindenwood are done for the fall.