The #2-ranked team in the Eastern half of D1A, the Lindenwood Lions, downed the Arkansas State Red Wolves 41-10 in the quarterfinals of the D1A Playoffs Saturday.

The Lions scored 34 unanswered points after being down 10-7 in the first half. Lindenwood was led in scoring by Evan Williams with 16 points, and Nick Hardrict II with two tries. 

Lindenwood opened the match by giving up a quick try to go down 7-0 after eight minutes of play. No. 8 Dante Bandino made good meters on an eightman pick and linked with his scrumhalf, TJ van Rensburg to keep Arkansas State's attack going. ASU then went wide, the backs charged in close, and then the forwards finished if off with hooker Devan DeVost going low and making the line. Mazvitaishe Nyamarebvu converted.

With a battle of field position and territory for the majority of the first half, scoring was not easy to come by for either team. At the 31-minute mark Stephen Alberts would score to get Lindenwood on the board 7-7. 

Immediately on the restart, the Lions attempted to clear the ball out of their own end, but were instead penalized for offside. Arkansas State would take advantage with Nyamarebvu slotting the penalty kick to go up 10-7. 

With the half winding down Evan Williams would connect on a penalty kick to even the score 10-10 before going into the half. 

In the second half the Lions went to work on the scoreboard when Gabe Kettering received an offload from Clarence Ekoume-Bienes. He then powered twenty meters and over two would-be tacklers to score. The Lions took their first lead of the match 17-10. 

Another penalty kick by Williams extended the home team's lead to 20-10 with 30 minutes left to play. Still it was plenty close.

With Lindenwood knocking on the door at the goalline, a wide ball was swung to the hooker Runako Brynard, who then threw a cutout pass between his legs to Nick Hardrict II. Hardrict would finish off the try to take a 27-10 lead. 

A lineout deep in Red Wolves territory saw Lindenwood drive a maul across the goalline, with Eduan van Heerden touching down to extend the lead to 34-10. 

With less than ten minutes left to play, Arkansas State attempted to swing the ball wide but Hardrict intercepted the ball to go 60 meters for his second try of the day. The Williams conversion would seal the match at 41-10. 

“The first twenty minutes of the match was quite slow for us, especially with how we like to play," said Lindenwood's Liam Smith. "Arkansas State came out firing from the start of the game and used both their attack and defense to work against us. It took us a while to get into second gear before we started to attack and defend how we typically like, but when we did, the floodgates opened. As this was my final home match at Lindenwood, it was an emotional but great victory going into the semifinals next week. The boys are now ready for our next job in New York, which we all know will be a tough match."

Lindenwood will play Army at West Point next week. Army beat Lindenwood in a non-conference game in November. 

“I think we did a great job using an expansive attack after a slow start against a much-improved Arkansas State squad," added Gabriel Kettering. "It took us a while to get going but our first try by Steph really helped bring some life into the team. It was a really fun match, and I am happy to end my time playing in Hunter stadium with that win." 

Assistant coach Aaron Browne were perhaps a little more poetic.

“In the first half we were like a kid that just fell out of a tree," said Browne, who paints quite the picture. "We just weren’t in it. In the second half we pulled our heads out and got back into them. We stifled their attack and finished our attack.” 

Lindenwood 41
Tries: Hardrict 2, Alberts, Kettering, van Heerden
Convs: Williams 5
Pens: Williams 2

Arkansas State 10
Tries: DeVost
Convs: Nyamarebvu
Pens: Nyamarebvu

—Zachary Thorum