ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Midwestern State's battle cry for the 2019 was clear all the way thorugh fall camp. The coaching staff encouraged the team to find a way to win.

The 16th-ranked Mustangs led by a pair of touchdowns on two occasions before coming away for a 28-27 win over Lindenwood Saturday night at Hunter Stadium.

"I told the guys that we had to find the way to make some plays and win the game," MSU Texas coach Bill Maskill said. "We held off and we found a way to win. It didn't make difference that we couldn't stop them and we couldn't run the ball like we wanted. All that matters is that we found a way to pull it out. We made the play when we had to make the play."

The Mustangs, who improved to 2-0 for the sixth consecutive season, raced out ot a 14-0 lead in the opening 4 1/2 minutes of the game on a pair of scoring runs of 3 and 46 yards by senior running back Quinton Childs.

But the Midwestern State offense sputtered allowing Lindenwood to tie the game early in the second half. LU sophomore quarterback Cade Brister hit Erik Henneman, who appeared to push away from MSU cornerback Jaydon Cunigan, for the Lions' first score of the game with 2:29 to play in the first half.

Lindenwood tied the game with a bit of trickery at the start of the second half as Brister pitched the ball to Najee Jackson, who raised up and found an open Payton Rose streaking down the middle of the field for a 51-yard completion.

Lindenwood, however, would never take the lead as the Mustangs blocked a pair of field goal attempts (Michael McDonald and Khalil Finley).

Midwestern State, once again, took the lead midway through the third quarter with Childs scoring his third touchdown capping a 7-play, 84-yard drive with a 19-yard scoring run with 5:57 to go in the third quarter.

The Mustangs' defense seized momentum on the next possession when Melik Owens recorded his third sack of the day forcing the ball out of Brister's hands at the MSU Texas 22-yard line. Senior defensive end Zack Edwards snagged the ball out of the air and lumbered 66 yards to the Lindenwood 10-yard line.

Three plays later, MSU quarterback Zach Purcell hit Xavier Land on a crossing route as the Mustangs re-established a 28-14 lead.

But after Lindenwood recovered a muffed punt, Brister hit Rose an a 33-yard post route to pull the Lions back to within a touchdown at 28-21.

Lindenwood pulled even closer on its next possession which covered 73 yards on 10 plays culminating in a Brister to Jackson 2-yard TD after the Lions were reward two first-and-goals by penalty -- an unsportsmanlike conduct for faking injury and pass interference in the end zone.

Midwestern State found away once more when sophomore defensive tackle A'quan Randolph blocked the extra point to preserve a 28-27 lead with 7:15 to go.

Lindenwood received one last chance driving the ball into the red zone with less than a minute to play.

This time, it was senior linebacker Zack McMahen that forced Brister to fumble which was recovered by junior safety Lance Hardman allowing the Mustangs to escape with the victory.

Midwestern State takes on UT Permian Basin for Family Day Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.