Lindenwood put an emphatic stamp on their Mid-South season with a 39-7 defeat of Life University Saturday.

With the victory, the Lions ended the Mid-South season 6-0. Life, who were playing without sparkplug halfback Isham-eel Safodien, dropped to 4-2.

It's a veteran Lindenwood team and certainly veterans like flyhalf Evan Williams (19 points), center Rhys Smith (one try), and flanker Marnus Spangenberg (captain) performed. But younger players such as recent Charlotte Tiger standout Eduan van Heerden had their moments. Van Heerden is able to twist his tall frame through tackles and he continues to be effective in the college game. He scored two tries.

Lindenwood took their time, getting penalty goals from Williams at the four-minute and eight-minute mark before van Heerden's first try. Williams scored one himself at 26 minutes and suddenly it was 18-0. Lindenwood played at a high pace and used quick taps to backpedal Life, but they also defended well, with one long goalline stand ending in the ball being cleared to put pressure back on Life. 

"We are really comfortable without the ball," said Head Coach Josh Macy. "We're happy to defend for a long time. We're just playing well together, and we're coming on at the right time."

Tyren Al-Jibbori at wing has been coming back from injuries, but he is fully into his rugby now and playing well. That's a bonus for Lindenwood. The Union HS (Oklahoma) product, along with Nick Hardrict II (Penn HS) form an effective one-two punch at wing. Williams, who keeps the scoreboard moving, has also proven effective in securing those hard-to-get 50-22 kicks. He got one again this week, and as a result teams are now guarding against those kicks, especially on turnovers, which leaves space for Lindenwood to attack when possession is flipped.

Meanwhile, their team play has been very strong, and an example can be seen below with Rhys Smith's try.