Fifth-ranked Lindenwold secured yet another victory in Mid-South Conference play over the weekend, but this one was in doubt against No. 11 Arkansas State until the final whistle. Meanwhile, No. 23 Davenport improved to 2-2 with a solid road win over Clemson.

Lindenwood 36, Arkansas State 32

The Lions held off a much-improved Arkansas State team on Saturday night at Hunter Stadium on the St. Charles, Missouri, campus of Lindenwood. The Red Wolves led by as much as 10 points during the game, which saw tension boil over at times, with two players red-carded.

ASU started it all off with a snappy run from fullback Valentin Balance, eventually setting up No. 8 Jake Ray to wriggle over for a score. 

Down 8-0 after an Arkansas State penalty goal, Lindenwood responded with No. 8 Wes White picking up from the base of the scrum, going left (not the orthodox direction because the opposing scrumhalf is in the way), and fending off two players to score in the corner.

Lindenwood’s scrum and maul were very strong, and in fact, the Lions later got a penalty try when Arkansas State was guilty of pulling down a maul close to the tryline. That made it 12-8 for Lindenwood. The Lions kept up the pressure, blitzing defenders at times and making the tackles count. Defensive pressure forced ASU into some errors in its own 22, and a poor clearance kick landed in the hands of wing Deion Mikesell, who took it to the corner to make it 17-8.

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Arkansas State replied with a long kick-and-chase sequence that ended with center Thomas Hogan going over. Lindenwood led 17-13 at halftime.

But Arkansas State was on the front foot, and a superb dummy and run by Zach Young saw the All-American center in under the posts. Right from the restart, Arkansas State was there again. This time the Red Wolves forced a penalty, tapped quickly, and prop Tanner Pope scored to give ASU a 27-17 lead.

White picked up his second, rambling in at the corner, but soon the No. 8 was off the field.

White tapped on a free kick and went into contact. As play moved to the other side of the field, White and his opposite number — sub No. 8 Calvin Gentry — got into some sort of altercation while they were on the ground. The referee showed both a red card, and it was 14-on-14 for the remainder of the game.

Moments after, Lindenwood center Juan Romero slipped through a gap to make it 29-27 for the Lions. A superbly worked backline move put Christian Rodriguez in for another Lindenwood try. And while ASU’s Young set up another with a brilliant play, the Red Wolves couldn’t get any closer.

“We didn’t play particularly well,” said Lindenwood head coach Josh Macy, who will be particularly unhappy with the fact that his team essentially doubled its conference points against total thanks to the 32 ASU scored. 

Arkansas State, after losing badly to Life and just getting by Clemson, did well to get two bonus points on the road.

“It was our best all-around effort since last spring,” said head coach Blake White, who added that his team has been working hard to learn to play together. “We were playing to our structures and trusting the process.”

Davenport 41, Clemson 15

In a strong outing for Davenport, No. 8 Tom Chesiak scored two early tries and front-rower Drew Boatright was his usually cantankerous self in tight to lead the Panthers to a road win at Clemson on Saturday.

FULL MID-SOUTH SCORES & STANDINGS

With these results, Lindenwood (4-1) moves into first place by virtue of having played one more game than Life University (4-0). 

Davenport (2-2) remains behind ASU (2-3) based on their head-to-head result. Next week Life is at ASU and Davenport is at Lindenwood.

Watch Clemson at Life University LIVE March 31 on FloRugby