In a game that was anticipated to be a high-scoring affair, Saturday's college football season opener between Lincoln and Langston proved to be an offensive struggle early on.
Neither team scored until the final minute of the second quarter, but Langston took advantage of a couple miscues by Lincoln in the second half and defeated the Blue Tigers 23-13 at Dwight T. Reed Stadium in Jefferson City.
"We thought it was going to be a high-scoring game," Lincoln coach Mike Jones said. "Our young guys played well defensively and we had some drops offensively.
"We just have to go back to the drawing board and get better."
The Blue Tiger offense set school records in receptions and passing yards last season, and Lincoln entered the 2016 season with high expectations in that area.
Instead, the Blue Tigers completed just 12-of-32 passes for 124 yards through the air. Many of the 20 incomplete passes were drops by various receivers.
"We have got to work on not dropping the ball," Jones said. "We had way too many drops. I think we dropped at least three touchdowns today.
"We didn't catch the ball well today, and sometimes that happens."
The game began with both teams combining to punt on 11 of the first 13 series of the game. Langston broke the scoreless deadlock late in the second half with a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Mark Wright Jr., capping a 14-play, 62-yard drive that gave the Lions a 6-0 lead with 54 seconds left in the first half.
Lincoln made the most of the final minute of the half. The Blue Tigers started the ensuing drive on their 40-yard line and marched quickly down the field. On the final play as time expired, quarterback Dennis Vinson threw a jump ball to wide receiver Anthony Townsend, who outjumped his defender and hauled in a 33-yard touchdown reception.
Alex Templeton gave the Blue Tigers a 7-6 halftime lead with the extra point. Lincoln blocked Langston's extra-point attempt on the previous scoring drive.
"That was a big play by Anthony Townsend," Jones said. "We were sputtering on offense and he gave us a lift.
"We thought we would come out in the second half and play better, but Langston came out and did a great job executing what they do."
Lincoln fumbled the ball inside its 10-yard line on its first possession of the second half, leading to a 20-yard field goal by Langston's Michael Ryan-Calderon. Later in the third quarter, Langston returned a punt to the Blue Tiger 20-yard line, setting up a 16-yard touchdown pass to Lar'Darion Cobb. That play extended Langston's lead to 16-7 with 7:06 to play in the third quarter.
Langston also blocked a Lincoln punt in the third quarter, but the Lions were unable to take advantage of that and add to their lead.
"We had issues on special teams," Jones said. "They only sent one guy and (the punt) got blocked. We've got to do a much better job than that."
Langston added to its lead in the fourth quarter with another touchdown pass to Cobb, this time on a 34-yard strike. Lincoln cut the final margin to 10 points with a 25-yard pass to Townsend for his second score of the game. The two touchdown catches were Townsend's only receptions of the game to lead all receivers.
The Blue Tigers had what would have been a 75-yard touchdown reception to Delvon Rouser called back in the fourth quarter because of an ineligible receiver downfield penalty.
"The play we ran, it was a run-pass option," Jones said. "The offensive lineman, he did a great job of blocking the guy and he drove him downfield. That was just a tale of the tape right there."
Langston gained 345 total yards to Lincoln's 181. The Blue Tigers did not have a play inside the red zone during the game.
Will Randolph led the Lincoln rushing game with eight carries for 32 yards. Addison Tucker and Amani Nelson each had nine tackles to lead the Blue Tiger defense. Jeff Jones had an interception and Isaiah Doss recovered a fumble.
Lincoln (0-1) will travel next Saturday to play at Lincoln (Pa.) in the first meeting between the two schools. Kickoff is set for noon (CDT).
Notes: Making his first start at middle linebacker for Lincoln, sophomore Justus Schulte (Helias) finished the game with two tackles: one solo and one assisted. True freshman C.J. Closser (Blair Oaks) entered the game at wide receiver in the fourth quarter and caught two passes for 19 yards, including a 23-yard catch on fourth-and-14 to move the chains and set up the Blue Tigers' second touchdown.
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