ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- The No. 3 Lindenwood (Mo.) football team had its best quarter in school history in the third when it outscored No. 5 Ottawa (Kan.) by a 37-0 margin. Those 15 minutes helped the Lions advance to the NAIA Football Championship Semifinals with a 64-26 victory over the Braves.

The Lions used a pair of first quarter touchdown runs by Denodus O'Bryant to jump out to a 13-0 lead. Ottawa responded with a touchdown and field goal to open up the second quarter, before a late Lindenwood drive netted seven more points when Philip Staback hit Matt Angell with a 19-yard touchdown strike. The Lions then prevented the Braves from scoring on a two minute drive and Lindenwood led 20-10 at halftime.

The tone of the third quarter was set on the first play when the special teams forced a fumble on the kickoff and Lindenwood took over on the Ottawa five yard line. It took just one play for LeMarian Parson to score on a run from there. The defense forced a quick punt on Ottawa's next possession, and the Braves had a bad snap on the punt. That forced the punter to field the ball with his knee on the ground, giving Lindenwood the ball back at the Ottawa 25. It took the Lions just three plays to score from there, ending in a Matt Angell four yard run.

The next four times Ottawa touched the ball, the Lindenwood defense forced more turnovers. A fumble forced by Parks Peterson led to a Staback touchdown pass to Rudy Fleming. An interception was returned for a 40 yard touchdown by Damian James. Two other interceptions led to another touchdown, this one from Staback to Matt Bramow, and a field goal by Halley Ferrell. When the dust settled in the quarter, Lindenwood was in complete command by a 57-10 score.

Ottawa did score two touchdowns in the final quarter, and the Lions added one more when O'Bryant tied a NAIA record with his fourth kickoff return touchdown of the season, this one from 94 yards out.

O'Bryant rushed for 101 yards on just 11 carries, and had two rushing scores. His three touchdowns give him 20 for the season, a new single-season record at Lindenwood. Two other individual records were set on the day. Fleming is now the career receiving yards leader after catching three passes for 33 yards. He now has 1,935 receiving yards in just two seasons as a Lion. Halley Ferrell made 10 points kicking with seven extra points and a field goal. He now has a Lindenwood record with 108 points on the season.

Lindenwood dominated field position in the game, with its average starting field position being the Ottawa 49 yard line, 25 yards better than Ottawa's starting field position. The Lions had a +6 advantage in turnovers, including forcing five interceptions and causing two fumbles.

The Lions offense finished with 393 total yards, including 155 on the ground and 238 passing. Ottawa had more yards with 434, but many of those came late after the game was already decided. Lindenwood's defense allowed just 54 rushing yards and an average of 1.9 yards per carry.

Staback finished the game with 226 yards passing and three touchdowns. Marcel Thompson was the top receiver with five catches for 80 yards. Bramow caught four balls for 75 yards.

Park Peterson had a team-high 11 tackles, with one tackle for loss and one forced fumble. Brandon Gould had two interceptions, and James, Logen Wright and Adarrious Ross each had one pick. Shawn Alli and Roren Thomas each had a forced fumble, and Jovan Alexander and James Wofford had the fumble recoveries. Nick Stemmler punctuated the Lindenwood defense's performance with two sacks for 29 yards on Ottawa's last possession.