ST. CHARLES, MO. – Charleston Southern fell in their season and conference opener by a final score of 20-17 on Thursday night at Lindenwood. The Lions were able to get their first lead of the night off a pick six near the end of the first half when the Bucs were driving and that proved to be the difference as they never gave up their lead after that.
The Buccaneers were the first to get on the scoreboard courtesy of a 50 yard field goal by
Matt Rolader near the start of the second quarter. This capped off a 10 play, 48 yard drive to give CSU a 3-0 lead. The Lions responded with a 32 yard field goal on their ensuing possession to conclude their 11 play, 64 yard possession to tie the game at three apiece.
On the next possession for the Bucs, CSU reached the redzone getting to the Lindenwood 20 yard line. On the second down play, the Lions' Isaac Edwards got an interception and ran it back for 85 yards and a pick six going ahead 10-3.
On the first drive for Lindenwood of the second half, their quarterback Pops Battle scrambled for a 22 yard touchdown. Charleston Southern responded with a touchdown pass from
Lek Powell to
Mekhi Campfield on fourth down to begin the fourth quarter.
Lindenwood tallied their second field goal of the game with 5:36 left in the game. They knocked that one in from 28 yards out. The Buccaneers got their second touchdown of the day with 2:03 left in the game with Powell finding
Hunter Green over the middle of the field from 14 yards out. The Lions were able to move the chains and kneel out the rest of the clock to get the win.
In his first start for the Buccaneers, Powell finished the day going 18-32 through the air. He had 208 passing yards to go with two touchdowns and an interception as well as a net of nine yards on the ground.
Dwayne Wright led the team in rushing with 11 carries for 58 yards with
Harry Smalls collecting eight rushes for 34 yards. In the receiving game,
KD Dorsey led the squad with three catches for 46 yards with Campfield adding five for 44 yards.
Kordell Lewis and
Quay Kindell each had two receptions on the night and passed 30 yards.
On the defensive end,
Steve Zayachkowsky led the team in tackles with 10 on the day. He also picked up a pair of sacks for a career-high in the category.
Mylan Bowen and
Tristan Lennon both had seven tackles with
Taivon Snipe getting six and
Josiah Wyatt with five.
The Buccaneers will return to action next weekend as they will travel to Georgia Southern for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Paulson Stadium. The game will be available live on ESPN+ and be the second game of a three-game road trip to begin the season for CSU.
