AVE MARIA, Fla. -- The longest trip in Lindsey Wilson football history turned out to be a triumphant success tonight as the Blue Raiders beat host Ave Maria (Fla.) 37-3 under the lights at Gyrene Field.

The Blue Raiders (2-0) used a dominant defense, an efficient offense, and an explosive special teams to help make the 909-mile trip from the heart of the Lindsey Wilson campus to Ave Maria worthwhile.

The Lindsey Wilson defense limited the Gyrenes (0-1) to 212 total yards of offense while surrendering just a late fourth-quarter field goal. The Blue Raider offense tallied 341 yards of offense and nearly seven yards per play. A 90-yard touchdown kickoff return by Byron Kirkland-Lundy highlighted the Lindsey Wilson special teams unit.

All-in-all, the trip was a success thanks to the Blue Raiders achieving their program's mantra of going 1-0 this week.

Lindsey Wilson scored the game's first points as the first quarter came to an end. Backup quarterback Tate Rice threw the first of four touchdown passes as time expired to Khia Sherrard to give the Blue Raiders a 7-0 lead. Rice finished the game 17-of-21 passing for 249 yards and the four scores.

Davontaye Saunders turned a short reception out of the backfield into a 75-yard touchdown as he broke one tackle and ran past two Gyrene defenders to extend the lead to 13-0.

Jadan Burns added his second field goal of the season, connecting on a season-long 36-yarder to give Lindsey Wilson a 16-0 advantage at the break.

While the offense was taking care of business, the defense -- who held Texas Wesleyan scoreless in the second half last week -- pitched a shutout in the first half tonight. The Blue Raider defense limited the Gyrenes to just 74 yards in the first half.

If Ave Maria had hoped the second half would be different, the Lindsey Wilson special teams all put planted the knockout punch in the first 16 seconds of the third quarter.

Kirkland-Lundy returned his first-ever kickoff return 90 yards to give the Blue Raiders a 23-0 lead. It was the 19th kickoff return for a touchdown in the program's history and Kirkland-Lundy's first career touchdown.

Seth Phillips and Taborie Reed were on the end of Rice touchdown passes in the third quarter to extend the lead to 37-0. The touchdowns are Phillips' and Reed's second career touchdown catches.

Ave Maria prevented the shutout with a 23-yard field goal with just over nine minutes left in the game.

Cameron Rankins and Lou Burchfield led the Blue Raiders with five tackles each. Burchfield also had a strip-sack, forcing a fumble that led to a Lindsey Wilson touchdown. Jermaine Allen and Kelson McKinney each recorded their first interceptions of the season as the Blue Raider defense forced three turnovers from Ave Maria.

Lindsey Wilson improves to 2-0 all-time against Ave Maria and 10-1 all-time against The Sun Conference. The Blue Raiders also improved to 29-6 in night games.

The Blue Raiders return to action at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, September 15, as Lindsey Wilson hosts No. 8-ranked St. Thomas (Fla.) at Parnell Family Stadium -- part of Hall of Fame Weekend at Lindsey Wilson.