Complete Game Notes
Game 2: Lincoln (1-0) at Lane (0-0)
Date/Time: Saturday, Sept. 6 - 2:00 p.m.
Location: Jackson, Tenn.
Stadium (Capacity): Lane Field (3,500)
Tickets: Available online through www.Ticketfalcon.com
Series: Lincoln leads, 10-7
 
THE KICKOFF 
The Lincoln football team tries to start the 2025 season 2-0 this weekend as the Blue Tigers head to Jackson, Tenn. to play Lane on Saturday (Sept. 6) at 2:00 p.m. CDT. Lincoln is 8-4 in its last 12 games against the Dragons, but Lane won the last time the two teams played, beating the Blue Tigers, 41-28, in Jefferson City last November.
 
The Blue Tigers enjoyed a dominant 55-6 home win over Lincoln (CA) to open their 2025 slate last Saturday (Aug. 30). It was Lincoln's first season- opening victory since 2018, when LU opened the campaign with a 10-7 neutral site victory over this week's opponent, Lane. That season was also the last time that Lincoln played Lane in Tennessee.
 
Saturday marks the season opener for Lane, which went 4-6 overall but just 1-2 at home in 2024. The Dragons are led by Stanley Conner, who kicks off his first season as the head coach at Lane this weekend.
 
QUICK HITS 
- Lincoln and Lane, both HBCU programs, will meet for the 18th time this weekend in a series that dates back to 1931. The Blue Tigers hold a 10-7 advantage in the series.
 
- Of the 11 opponents on Lincoln's 2025 schedule, Lane is the one with whom LU has the oldest rivalry.
 
- Lincoln won the first two meetings in the series before Lane won three-in-a-row. The Blue Tigers responded by winning six of the next seven contests in the series and beat the Dragons in both 2016 and 2018 before Lane won in Jefferson City in 2024.
 
- A victory for Lincoln would give the Blue Tiger multiple wins in a season for the first time since 2018.
 
- The Blue Tigers are playing for their first road win since beating William Jewell, 23-14, on Oct. 20, 2018.
 
- Lincoln is also attempting to win consecutive games for the first time since ending the the 2013 season with back-to-back home victories.
 
- A win on Saturday would give Lincoln a 2-0 start to a season for the first time since 1972, when the Blue Tigers finished with a 9-1 record.
 
- The Blue Tigers enter this weekend with an all-time record of 263-506-25.
 
- Moses Harper was named the head coach of the Lincoln football team in 2024. He is in his second season leading the Blue Tigers and has an overall and program record of 2-10 entering this week.
 
- Lincoln, which was a full member of the MIAA for 26 years (overall), joined the GLVC as a full member in 2024. The Blue Tigers, who were an associate member of the GLVC from 2014-18, have played in five different leagues in their 94-year history: the Midwest Athletic Association (MWAA), the Great Lakes Football Conference (GLFC), the Central States Football League (CSFL), the GLVC and the MIAA.
 
- This is the 94th season of Lincoln football. The Blue Tigers first fielded a team in 1920 and played every year until 1943, when Lincoln took a year off due to World War II. LU then played each season from 1944-1989. The football program was disbanded at that point, but was brought back in 2000. Lincoln did not play a full schedule in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions.
 
BLUE TIGERS TO WATCH
OFFENSE - Three different quarterbacks threw a touchdown pass against Lincoln (CA), including Will King III, who tallied both passing and rushing scores in the Blue Tigers' 55-6 victory. Isaiah Tate completed 10 passes for 210 yards and three TDs in just over three quarters of work and Jaylen Thomas also threw a touchdown pass. JaDarrius Thomas led the rushing attack with 55 yards while both Jareese Howard and Jalen Thomas averaged over 6.5 yards per carry.
 
Armani Turner (88 yards) and Marcus Harris (85) were the top receivers in week one while Travis Reeves IV had a team-high four receptions. Reeves, Turner, Harris, Justin Cooks and Israel Tate all caught touchdown passes.
 
DEFENSE - Qwalan Miller had a team-high seven tackles, including one of LU's nine tackles for loss, while Christian Harris had the first interception of the season. Jordan Hoskins recovered a fumble and had four tackles as well as a pair of hurries. Jacob McGhee led Lincoln with two sacks and had three total takedowns. Ke'Ron Blankumsee, meanwhile, broke up a pair of passes.
 
Sterling Bright, who was second among the Blue Tigers with six tackles, recorded three tackles for loss. J'Addison Brown added four takedowns while Michael Allen had a sack and broke up a pass. Donte Moore, who also tallied a sack, broke up a pass while Brown and Devayne Johnson each combined for a tackle for loss. Nate Harden and Ryan Reese additionally broke up passes.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS - Luka Sari had an outstanding Blue Tiger debut, going five-for-five on extra point attempts and two-for-two on field goals. Sari hit a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter on his first kick attempt of the season. Later in the period, he connected on a 47-yard field goal, which was the second-longest by a GLVC player during the first week of the season.
 
Sari additionally averaged 64.2 yards on kickoffs, with two touchbacks, and 32.0 yards on punts. In the return game, Jaden Holloway averaged 18.3 yards on punts while Jalen Thomas had a 22-yard kickoff return.
 
LANE AT A GLANCE
The Dragon roster has had some turnover since the end of the 2024 season, including in the quarterback room, as LC will have a brand new signal-caller in 2025. The Dragons have two senior QBs on the roster in Sky Forest, a transfer from Memphis, and Cameron Davis, who last played at Wayne State. Cameron Shepherd, a transfer from UAB, is also in the mix. Ayden Ware is the top-returning receiver after catching three passes for 80 yards and a touchdown in 2025. Zarek Williams, who also caught a touchdown pass, returns as well. Lemarkus Kinney, who rushed for 49 yards and averaged 4.5 yards per carry, is Lane's top-returning running back.
 
Zavion Shaw, who was fifth on the team with 38 tackles, is the top-returning defender from the 2024 squad. He had 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks to go with six QB hurries, two broken-up passes and a forced fumble. Also back is Jeremiah Malbroue, who finished last season with 32 tackles and an interception. Emanuel Russel rounds out Lane's returning defenders after a 2024 campaign in which he had 12 tackles, including a sack, and was one of two Dragon players to block a kick.
 
Lane's special teams will also have a brand new look, with Carter Dugan and Arthur Moreira-Rocha serving as the new kickers. David Fisher and James Wagner are the long snappers while just two of the eight Dragon players who returned a kick in 2024 are on the 2025 roster: Zarek Williams and Zavion Shaw, who each returned one kick last season.
 
THE COACHES
Moses Harper was named the head coach of the Blue Tigers in 2024 and is in his second season leading the LU football program. Harper is no stranger to Missouri as he graduated from Central Methodist and has worked at both William Jewell and Missouri Western. Most recently he was the passing game coordinator and receivers coach at Nebraska Kearney, a former rival of the Blue Tigers in the MIAA.
 
Stanley Conner took over as head coach at Lane in 2025 and is in his first season leading the program. Conner is in his eighth season overall as a head coach and enters the weekend with a 22-45 record. Conner coached Benedict from 2007-2011, leading the team to an 8-3 record overall and a 6-3 mark in the SIAC in 2009. From 2014-15, he was the head coach of Concordia, an NAIA program.
 
STRONG START:  Lincoln is rated very highly in the national rankings after winning the opener, 55-6. The Blue Tigers lead the country in points scored and fourth down conversion percentage (a perfect 1.000) while rating fourth in first downs allowed (eight) and total defense (147.0). LU's pass efficiency rating of 60.1 is the fifth-best nationally while Lincoln ranks third in scoring defense.
 
PASSING GRADE:  Isaiah Tate had a strong first game, averaging 21.0 yards per completion, the third-most by any Division II quarterback. Tate threw for 210 yards in just over two quarters of work and was responsible for 18 points, ranking him 22nd in the country. He additionally is 50th in the country in passing yards per game as well as 59th nationally in total passing yards. Tate posted a pass efficiency rating of 187.2, which currently is the 15th-highest in NCAA Division II.
 
STAUNCH DEFENSE:  Several players on LU's defense are also ranked highly nationally. Jacob McGhee is second in the country after posting a pair of sacks in Lincoln's opener. Sterling Bright had three tackles for loss, the sixth-most of any DII player, while McGhee is 28th in the country with two tackles for loss. Ke'Ron Blankumsee broke up two passes, tying him for 15th in the nation.
 
OTHER NATIONAL NOTES: Jaden Holloway had an average of 18.3 yards per punt return, the third-most in the GLVC and the fifth-most in Division II. Jordan Hoskins is fourth in the country in fumble recoveries and Christian Harris is fifth nationally in interceptions, as each player had one in the first game of the season. Luka Sari is tied for first with 44 other DII kickers with a perfect 1.000 field goal percentage and additionally is fourth nationally in field goals per game (2.0). Marcus Harris averaged 42.5 yards per reception, the fifth-most in DII.
 
HE'S MY BROTHER:  Lincoln has two sets of brothers playing on the 2025 squad. Quarterback Isaiah Tate and wide receiver Israel Tate are in their second season playing together at Lincoln, with Israel Tate joining the team a year earlier. On the defensive side of the ball, Dontonio Moore and Donte Moore are both starters on the defensive line and are playing together at Lincoln for the third season.
 
SCORING A WIN:  No other team in the GLVC scored as many points as the Blue Tigers did in week one, as LU defeated Lincoln (CA) 55-6. The 55 points were four more than the 51 scored by Missouri S&T in its opener, with Indianapolis checking in at third with 45 points against their first week opponent. The Blue Tigers also allowed the fewest points by any GLVC team in week one, with Quincy a close second with seven points allowed.
 
TICKETS:  Like in the past two years, fans can purchase their tickets to Lincoln's home football games online. Head to http://lubluetigers.com/tickets to purchase both season and individual game tickets for the 2025 season. The season ticket package also includes parking passes for all six of Lincoln's home games.
 
JOIN THE TEAM BEHIND THE TEAM:  The Blue Tiger Athletics Club is a great way to engage with other LU fans while supporting Lincoln student-athletes. Every dollar raised by the club goes towards scholarships for students, improving campus facilities and purchasing and maintaining equipment. To become a member of the BTAC, or to learn more about the club, please visit www.LUBlueTigers.com/BTAC.
 
LU PLAYS ON KJLU:  Veteran play-by-play announcer James Stanley returns to the airwaves to provide Lincoln fans the action on the field in 2025. Stanley will call five of LU's home games, and fans can listen to him live on 88.9 FM KJLU. Those not in the Jefferson City area can also listen to the games on KJLU's website, http://radio.securenetsystems.net/v5/KJLU.
 
...AND ONLINE:  Each of Lincoln's league games in 2025 will stream online on the GLVC Sports Network at https://www.glvcsn.com/lincolnbluetigers. The home games will include a simulcast of the KJLU broadcast, while the road games will be called by the home team's radio broadcasting crew. All-season viewing packages are now available.
 
GEAR UP FOR THE GAME:  LU fans can get everything they need for the game at www.BlueTigersStore.com, the official online store for LU athletics. Everything from jerseys to office supplies can be found on the site, with a portion of all sales going to benefit Lincoln athletics.
 
UP NEXT:  The Blue Tigers are off next week, then host Quincy on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m. CDT at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.