JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Chancellor Johnson threw a pair of third quarter touchdown passes to Tori Hicks, and Hosea Franklin had his second-straight 100-yard night, but the Lincoln football team fell to Missouri Southern, 38-14, in its home opener on Thursday night (Sept. 12).

One week after forcing seven turnovers against Washburn, the Lincoln defense proved opportunistic once again, creating three takeaways against the Lions. Chavon Gross had an interception while Piere' Jones and Cody Bagby each recovered fumbles. Quan Mason had a pair of hurries and posted one of Lincoln's two tackles for loss.

Missouri Southern (1-1, 1-1 MIAA) controlled the first half, using a pair of touchdowns and two field goals to take a 21-0 lead into halftime. The Blue Tigers came out strong in the second half, however, as Johnson used a 48-yard run to get into the red zone before finding Hicks on a 10-yard throw into the end zone to cap of LU's first drive of the third quarter.

Gross intercepted the Lions with 6:12 remaining in the third quarter, and Johnson took advantage by hitting Hicks on a 30-yard catch-and-run that pulled the Blue Tigers to within 21-14. That was the score heading into the final period, but Missouri Southern kicked its third field goal of the night to regain a double-digit lead early into the quarter. The Lions scored touchdowns on each of their next two drives to seal the victory.

Franklin, broke LU's single game rushing record a week ago, led Lincoln (0-2, 0-2 MIAA) with 118 yards on 23 carries for an average of 5.1 yards per attempt. Johnson gained 52 yards on the ground and completed nine passes for 73 yards, while Hicks ended the night with 68 all-purpose yards. Dre'Shon Alston, meanwhile, had four catches for 33 yards.

Hasan Muhammad-Rogers led the defense with 10 tackles and had a tackle for loss while breaking up a pass. Vontavious Thacker added eight takedowns and a hurry while Bri'on Sanders made seven tackles and Cecil Stallings and Cody Alexander each finished with six apiece. Reagan Harrell averaged 36.1 yards on punts with a long of 50, and pinned MSSU inside the 20 on four occasions.

Lincoln will be back on the road next Saturday (Sept. 21), traveling to Edmond, Okla. to play Central Oklahoma in a 7:00 p.m. CDT contest.