PITTSBURG — Fifth-ranked Pittsburg State University blocked a pair of punts during a 35-point second quarter outburst, including one the Gorillas returned for a touchdown. The scoring frenzy helped Pitt State turn a 14-7 deficit into a 42-14 advantage as the Gorillas pulled away for a 56-28 victory over Lindenwood University before a sellout crowd of 10,362 fans at Brandenburg Field/Carnie Smith Stadium.
Freshman quarterback John Roderique, Jr. completed 19 of 21 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns and he rushed the ball 12 times for a game-high 84 yards and two more scores leading the Gorillas offense to 429 total yards in the contest.
Roderique scored on runs of 26 yards in the first quarter and one yard in the second quarter. He added TD passes of 23 yards to sophoore running back Michael Rose and five yards to senior tight end Kyle Swartz in the second period as well as a 19-yard TD toss to senior running back Jeff Seybold, Jr. in the third quarter.
Junior Levi Copelin blocked a Lindenwood punt, recovered the ball and scored from 16 yards out to give Pitt State a 35-14 lead with 1:53 to play in the second quarter. He also blocked and recovered a punt at the LWU 2 yard line earlier in the period to set up another score.
Rose added a 17-yard touchdown run with 6:21 to play in the game.
Junior cornerback Darnell Walker, Jr. recorded a pair of second-half interceptions. The Gorillas secondary registered three picks and deflected 12 passes in the game.
Lindenwood quarterback Jesse Scroggins completed 17 of 38 passes for 235 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while Lions back-up Mason Bendigo went 4 of 9 for 51 yards with two interceptions.
Four players – junior safeties Devron Moore and Deron Washington, senior linebacker Colby Hall and junior linebacker Spencer Brown – each made a team-leading nine tackles for the Gorillas. Dreu White made two of the Gorillas' four quarterback sacks.
The win helped Pitt State improve to 2-0 on the season, while Lindenwood dropped to 1-1. The Gorillas will host MIAA rival Washburn University in a 7 p.m. contest next Saturday (Sept. 19).
