COLUMBIA, Ky. – The No. 6 Lindsey Wilson football team opened the 2026 season with a 52-24 victory over No. 23 Reinhardt (Ga.) on Thursday night at Parnell Family Stadium.
The Blue Raiders (1-0) outgained the Eagles (0-1) 483-268 and limited Reinhardt to just 119 passing yards. Lindsey Wilson ran for 231 yards on 30 carries, while completing 12-of-20 passes for 252 yards.
Davontaye Saunders ran for 177 yards on 10 carries for three touchdowns. This marks Saunders' ninth career game over 100 yards, and the seventh time in his career he has surpassed over 150. With his 177 yards, Saunders has now totaled 2,271 yards in his career, moving to second all-time in career rushing yards. With his three touchdowns, Saunders now ranks fifth all-time with 26 career touchdowns.
Max Gainey caught five passes for 158 yards, while tying the program record for receiving touchdowns in a game with three. Gainey has now surpassed 100 yards in a game for the fourth time in his career.
Tate Rice completed 11 of his 16 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns.
Coty Johnson II led the Blue Raider defense with six tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Layne Alford tallied two tackles for loss and a sack, while
Troy Churchill also added a sack. Alford and
Stevin Mack each forced a fumble in the victory.
Reinhardt got the ball to begin the game and got into Blue Raider territory at the 39 before having to punt. The Eagles pinned Lindsey Wilson back on its own five-yard line on the punt. On the sixth play of the drive, Saunders broke free, taking it 69 yards to the Eagles' 16. On the next play,
Byron Kirkland-Lundy went for 14 yards to the Reinhardt two. Saunders punched it in on the very next play, giving the Blue Raiders a 7-0 lead with 5:48 to play in the first quarter.
Lindsey Wilson increased the lead with just 20 seconds left in the quarter. Rice connected with Gainey for 20 yards, giving the Blue Raiders a 14-0 advantage.
Jadan Burns connected on a 37-yard field goal with 8:24 to play in the half, pushing the Lindsey Wilson lead to 17-0.
On the first play of the next Blue Raider drive, Saunders took it 51yards to make it 24-0 with 6:56 left in the half. After forcing a fifth straight Reinhardt 3-and-out, Rice found Gainey on the first play of the ensuing drive for 74 yards, making it 31-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, Mack forced an Eagles fumble that was recovered by
John Dragoo Jr. at the Reinhardt 37. Rice found Gainey for a third time on the very first play of the drive increasing the lead to 38-0 with 4:17 to play in the half.
After stopping Reinhardt on fourth down at the Lindsey 43, Saunders capped a seven-play, 57-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown, pushing the Blue Raider advantage to 45-0 right before halftime.
On the second play of the first drive of the second half,
Pryor Lamb connected with
Malik Hicks for 71 yards, increasing the Lindsey Wilson lead to 52-0. Reinhardt got on the board with a 29-yard field goal from Alex Hanson with 1:02 left in the third quarter. The Eagles scored three touchdowns in the final 15 minutes, with two coming from Xavier Brantley.
The Blue Raiders are back in action on Saturday, September 5 hosting Ave Maria (Fla.) at 7 p.m. CT at Parnell Family Stadium.
