The Heart of America begins play this weekend, with No. 6 Lindenwood hosting Kansas State in St. Charles, Mo. Saturday. It will be the Lions’ first game in DI-AA after winning the DII National Championship in the spring.

Kansas State is coming off of a middle-of-the-pack finish in the Heart of America last season after reaching the National Quarterfinals the year before. They suffered a lot of turnover between the 2011 spring and fall semesters but have lost less this offseason. Gone is Kenny Scott, a longtime play maker for the Wildcats, but back as veteran leaders are Parker Staats and John Knutsen.

Lindenwood also lost its best play maker from a year ago, flyhalf Brendan Davis, who has left school. Filling in for him will be Jake Divitch, a Colorado Springs product who served in the military straight out of high school and is now studying at Lindenwood. Davis was one of the best flyhalves in the entire country last season, regardless of division, and will be a tough act to follow.

“I’m not putting a lot on him, because those are really huge shoes to fill,” said Lions coach Ron Laszewski of Divitch, “but we’ll also be able to do some things a little differently, which we’re looking forward to.”

Lindenwood didn’t lose much besides Davis off of the National Championship squad, but they’ve made some big additions. One is Sebastian Kalm, a former Chile U19 back row player. Another is Tama Paogofie-Buyten, a High School All American No. 8 from Hawaii.

“He’s a fierce tackler,” said Laszewski of Pagofie-Buyten. “He’s extremely athletic for his size and has an incredibly good future if he keeps his nose to the grindstone.”

Lindenwood was impressive in its lone preseason outing, blanking DII SLU 45-0 with a freshman team.