Within minutes, the Missouri Southern football team was leading by 14 points in last weekend’s game against Lindenwood.

Travis Hurd took the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, and the Lions were quick to add another touchdown, leading 14-0 just over halfway through the first quarter.

Then the wheels fell off.

“[Lindenwood] made big plays, and they made them consistently throughout the day,” Head Coach Daryl Daye said.

“You know, we made critical mistakes with personal fouls and a couple things that cost us the football game. Those are the things you can’t do and expect to win a football game when you’re so evenly matched.”

After the initial 14 points the Lions put on the board, Lindenwood rattled off 31 unanswered points to close out the first half.

The conference newcomers would hold that lead the rest of the game, going on to win 45-30.

Penalties have been a problem off and on for the Lions this season, but never more so than in this game where the Lions gave up 183 yards on 16 penalties.

“I talked to our guys after the game,” Daye said.

“I said, ‘You guys won the football game from the shoulders down, but from the neck up, you lost it,’ and that’s something that can be corrected.”

While penalties may have been the talk early on in the game, many around the MIAA this week have had their minds on Sterling Thomas, the cornerback from Lindenwood who suffered a severe spinal cord injury after a particularly nasty collision with Lion wide receiver Landon Zerkel.

“We’re doing our best as a program to support him as well as pray for him,” Daye said.

“Our team prays for him daily. I personally pray for him daily. Very sad that it happened, and we’re behind Lindenwood any way we can support them and help get this young man back into recovery.”

Thomas was taken from the field in an ambulance to a local hospital. He was listed in serious condition immediately following the game, but he seems to have made some progress as reports are now surfacing of his being able to touch his forehead.

As the Lions head back to the field this weekend, they’ll be focused on keeping their discipline in check.

Those penalties and on-the field discipline issues were worked on throughout practice this week, and Daye is confident his team is ready to go in the John Ware Memorial Classic tomorrow afternoon against Truman State.

John Ware was the Lion football coach from 2003 until he passed away following a heart attack in 2005. Before that, Ware was the head coach at Truman State for nine years.

Needless to say, the Lions will be playing with heavy hearts this weekend, but one Lion has something to be thankful for.

“My town, itself, won’t have power until at least Friday or Saturday,” Travis Hurd said.

Hurd, a junior running back, is originally from Connecticut. His family still lives there, and their area was in the path of Hurricane Sandy and its destruction this week.

“My parents were able to get out,” he said. “They called me the night before and told me this thing was going to hit around 12 p.m., so we might not have power, but we have a little generator hooked up so we were ready for it.”

Hurd’s family was also in the path of Hurricane Irene last year, but everyone was safe in the storm.

The Rhode Island transfer will look to continue his recent streak of big plays when the Bulldogs come to Joplin.

Truman State brings a well balanced offense into the game, averaging more than 200 yards through the air and another 100 more on the ground, and they’re the team coach Daye said is the best coached in the conference.

“These kids … you know you better bring a full lunch with you that day because they’re going to make you fight them all the way to the end,” Daye said.

“And I’d like to say that our kids are the same way.”

The battle of wills could lead to yet another interesting game for the Lions.

Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.

Each ticket sold to tomorrow’s game will add $1 to the John Ware Memorial Scholarship Fund, which is awarded to one football player each year.

This year’s recipient is senior quarterback and education major Kellen Cox, who has the highest grade-point average on the team at 3.6.