ST CHARLES – As the pageantry began and the crowd filed in, Lindenwood defensive back Isaac Edwards and quarterback Robert ‘Pops’ Battle checked in with each other to gauge their emotions prior to making their first collegiate starts.
“Before the game, we were just talking about not being too (nervous),” Edwards said. “I’m never too antsy, even the music I listen to is calm, but I know how to turn it on when it’s time.”
Edwards produced the pivotal pick-6 in the first half and Battle created clutch plays in the second half as Lindenwood defeated Charleston Southern 20-17 Thursday in the season opener at Hunter Stadium.
The matchup also served as the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams in an unusual league game to open the season. Lindenwood (1-0, 1-0 OVC) will play three consecutive road games before returning home Oct. 10 to resume conference play against Southeast Missouri.
A defensive stalemate produced a 3-3 tie before Charleston Southern mounted a long, sustained drive late in the first half. Quarterback Lek Powell’s 13-yard scramble on third-and-10 set up the Buccaneers inside the Lindenwood 20-yard line as they sought the go-ahead score in the closing seconds.
But on the 15th play of the drive, Edwards stepped in front of a Powell pass, snatched it out of the air and raced 85 yards down a wide-open sideline to give Lindenwood a stunning, 10-3 halftime lead.
“That play was just film study and preparation,” said Edwards, a Kirkwood High alum. “At that down and distance, they like to run stick routes, and I just trusted my coaching and my ability to go make a play.”
Edwards’ big play was the culmination of a brilliant first half by the revamped Lindenwood secondary. One play prior to the pick-6, Charleston Southern attempted a double move down the sideline, but Ball State transfer Jalen Jones stayed stride-for-stride with Bucs’ star receiver Mekhi Campfield and broke up the pass.
Earlier in the drive, a bubble screen from Powell to Maxwell Warren was blocked perfectly by the Bucs and destined for huge yardage, but Cornell transfer Brayon Crawford delivered a Superman-dive from his safety position to make the open field tackle that likely saved a touchdown.
“It comes down to trust,” Edwards said of the defensive backs. “We put in extra work over the summer, we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and whatever one person lacks, the others make up.”
The stellar play of the Lindenwood defense gave Battle a chance to ease into the game. In the first half, he completed short passes, located his checkdowns, and handed the ball to his running backs.
In the second half, he became ‘Pops.’
On the first possession after halftime, Battle fired a heater between multiple defenders to a streaking Jalen Smith for a 25-yard gain. Five plays later, he ran a quarterback keeper around left end, got a key block from Smith on the perimeter, and raced 22 yards to the end zone to give Lindenwood a 17-3 lead.
“I give credit to (Offensive Coordinator Dusty Hovorka) and my O-linemen. Coach was waiting for that one and he called it at the right time,” Battle said of the TD run. “I saw a gap, Jalen had a perfect block on their corner, and I just hit it.”
A Powell-to-Campfield touchdown on fourth down sliced the Charleston Southern deficit to 17-10 early in the fourth quarter.
Battle, now fully comfortable, went to work on the clinching scoring drive.
“It was about shaking off the rust and trusting the older guys, and I was able to adjust the speed of the game,” he said.
He found Elijah Roy on a perfectly delivered slant pass for 13 yards on third-and-6 to keep the drive alive, then made a ridiculous reverse pivot, spin-o-rama to avoid a free blitzer and scramble for a first down on third-and-13.
“We didn’t have a tight end (in the formation), so we were just outmatched. I didn’t know if they were blitzing, but once I snapped it and they came, I knew I could out-leverage them towards the sideline,” Battle said.
Three plays later, Will Graham delivered a 26-yard field goal and the lead was 20-10.
Powell showed his own Houdini-like qualities on the next Charleston Southern drive, scrambling for multiple first downs and finding tight end Hunter Green for a 14-yard touchdown to slice the deficit to 20-17 with 2:03 remaining.
It took a final dart from Battle to Smith for 13 yards on third-and-6, and a nine-yard burst up the middle from Robert Giaimo to put the Lions in victory formation.
Giaimo did not have a carry before the final drive, but with Hall and Rhodes unavailable for the final possession, the player Lindenwood coach Jed Stugart affectionately calls ‘Ol’ Reliable’ toted the ball four times in the final two minutes to help seal the win.
“Giaimo is going to give you everything he’s got. When we look at film, we’ll probably see that the first down that he got, (the hole) wasn’t there. It was not clean, but he just went and got it, and that’s just what he does,” Stugart said.
Next, Lindenwood goes on the road to face Stony Brook, a team the Lions defeated 30-27 in their home opener last season. They will then face two FBS opponents, Missouri State and Eastern Michigan, before returning home to play conference rival Southeast Missouri in the annual Game Ball Brawl at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10.
As for the home, conference and season opener wrapped up into one, the Lions learned plenty about themselves.
“It’s been a long camp, and we wondered what type of team we had, but today we found out a lot. The fight they had tonight showed their character, and this was a character win,” Stugart said.
For a photo gallery of this game, click the link below:
https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Football/Football-2026/Charleston-So-vs-Lindenwood-8-27