The No. 3 Lindenwood football team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NAIA Football Championship Series on Saturday with a 42-14 victory over No. 20 Langston.

The Lions defense was the story of the game as they did not allow a point until midway through the fourth quarter. They forced two turnovers, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and twice in the first-half, stopped Langston on fourth-and-short plays. Those early stops by the Lindenwood defense helped the squad jump out to 21-0 halftime lead. The Lions then scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half to wrap up the contest.

Lindenwood took the lead less than three minutes into the game and never gave it up. Lindenwood returned the opening kickoff into Langston territory and scored seven plays later when Philip Staback found Matt Angell in the endzone for a 22-yard touchdown reception.

Lindenwood was stopped on a fourth down play inside the Langston five, but Jovan Alexander intercepted a pass on Langston’s next possession. It took Lindenwood just two plays to go 34 yards, the final 11 on a Staback pass to Roren Thomas. Langston’s final drive of the first-half went inside the redzone, but its quarterback was tackled at the one yard line as the halftime horn sounded.

In the second-half, after a quick three-and-out by Langston, Lindenwood went four plays in 77 yards to go up 28-0. Langston scored twice on its final two possessions as Lindenwood emptied its bench in the fourth quarter.

The pairings for the quarterfinal round of the NAIA Football Championship Series were announced this evening and No. 3 Lindenwood will host No. 5 Ottawa next Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles. Both teams are undefeated on the season with 11-0 records.