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MONTICELLO — Lincoln County was unable to generate enough scoring opportunities and couldn’t keep pace with Wayne County Friday night, falling 37-19 to the undefeated Cardinals at Jewell Field.
“It was terrible,” Lincoln coach Mike Settles said. “We didn’t block well tonight. We didn’t tackle. We didn’t play well on special teams. The fundamentals just weren’t very good, and that was the difference in the game.”
Despite a lackluster start, the Patriots trailed just 8-6 at halftime. For the first minute and four seconds of the second half, Lincoln (3-2) appeared to have recouped from its slow start, with Marvin Robinson going 48 yards in three plays, finishing with a 37-yard touchdown to give Lincoln its first lead.
But, with one play, Wayne (5-0) turned the momentum and began the process of putting away the Patriots. On the ensuing kickoff, Joseph Pierce returned the ball 37 yards to the Lincoln 33, then the Cardinals followed with the first of three third-quarter touchdowns to open up the game.
Backup quarterback Logan Gardner, who replaced an injured Tyler Guffey on Wayne’s first possession, gave the lead back to the Cardinals with his second touchdown of the night, a 1-yard run. Lincoln fumbled away the kickoff, Drew Perkins recovered for Wayne at the Patriot 6 and, just 12 seconds after the Gardner score, D Vantae Dixon crossed the goal line to extend the Cardinal lead. The margin was 30-13 by the end of the third as Cody Rhule, who rushed for 50 yards on eight carries, scored on a 6-yard run. The drive covered just 10 yards, with Wayne getting the ball close to the goal line after Lincoln lost possession on a punt return.
“I felt good after the half,” Settles said. “We made some good adjustments at halftime, and the kids executed there to start the second half. Then we reverted back to what we were doing in the first half. Those turnovers hurt. When you don’t block well, you don’t tackle well, and you turn the ball over ... that’s just not a good combination.”
Lincoln had 190 yards total offense, becoming only the second team this season that Wayne has allowed more than 123 yards. The Patriots did not allow the Cardinals’ their average of 300 plus yards offense, holding them to 235 yards.
Wayne did not need to cover a lot of ground to score its touchdowns, taking possession in Lincoln territory on four of its five scores. The game’s opening drive was the Cardinals’ longest, covering 59 yards.
Gardner, who came in for Guffey on the eighth play of the drive, handed off his first snap to Junior Ruiz to move the ball to the 10, then hit Alan Brown for a 7-yard pass before carrying it on in for the touchdown.
When Guffey, who came into the game with 27 of 52 pass completions for 508 yards and seven touchdowns, was injured early, Settles thought that might be a break for the Patriot defense with one less big receiver — Gardner — on the field.
“It wasn’t. They didn’t miss a beat,” he said. “We thought with 20 (Gardner) back there it was gonna help us because he was a big threat to catch the ball on deep routes. But they stayed with their philosophy. Tyler Guffey is a great quarterback, but they also have a great backup.”
Gardner was 7-for-11 passing for 71 yards and a score and he rushed for 27 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.
Logan Martin, Lincoln’s leading rusher with 71 yards on 17 carries, got the Patriots on the scoreboard midway of the second quarter with a 17-yard run up the middle. The drive covered 53 yards in eight plays and was helped along by an offsides penalty against Wayne on 4th-and-3.
Lincoln reserve quarterback Dalton Godbey capped off a 96-yard march to the end zone midway of the fourth with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Austin Cress making it 30-19.
Wayne would answer one last time, with Ruiz, who rushed for 61 yards on five carries, zig-zagging his way 45 yards to the goal line.
The Cardinals fumbled the ball five times, losing possession twice.
“They really stopped themselves tonight. We didn’t stop them,” Settles said. “It was just a bad night. Our kids made some bad decisions. We’ve got to get better as a staff and as a team.”
“It’s just disappointing and frustrating. I’m disappointed for the fans who came out to watch because we had some excitement going but there wasn’t much excitement tonight for us.”
STATISTICS
“It was terrible,” Lincoln coach Mike Settles said. “We didn’t block well tonight. We didn’t tackle. We didn’t play well on special teams. The fundamentals just weren’t very good, and that was the difference in the game.”
Despite a lackluster start, the Patriots trailed just 8-6 at halftime. For the first minute and four seconds of the second half, Lincoln (3-2) appeared to have recouped from its slow start, with Marvin Robinson going 48 yards in three plays, finishing with a 37-yard touchdown to give Lincoln its first lead.
But, with one play, Wayne (5-0) turned the momentum and began the process of putting away the Patriots. On the ensuing kickoff, Joseph Pierce returned the ball 37 yards to the Lincoln 33, then the Cardinals followed with the first of three third-quarter touchdowns to open up the game.
Backup quarterback Logan Gardner, who replaced an injured Tyler Guffey on Wayne’s first possession, gave the lead back to the Cardinals with his second touchdown of the night, a 1-yard run. Lincoln fumbled away the kickoff, Drew Perkins recovered for Wayne at the Patriot 6 and, just 12 seconds after the Gardner score, D Vantae Dixon crossed the goal line to extend the Cardinal lead. The margin was 30-13 by the end of the third as Cody Rhule, who rushed for 50 yards on eight carries, scored on a 6-yard run. The drive covered just 10 yards, with Wayne getting the ball close to the goal line after Lincoln lost possession on a punt return.
“I felt good after the half,” Settles said. “We made some good adjustments at halftime, and the kids executed there to start the second half. Then we reverted back to what we were doing in the first half. Those turnovers hurt. When you don’t block well, you don’t tackle well, and you turn the ball over ... that’s just not a good combination.”
Lincoln had 190 yards total offense, becoming only the second team this season that Wayne has allowed more than 123 yards. The Patriots did not allow the Cardinals’ their average of 300 plus yards offense, holding them to 235 yards.
Wayne did not need to cover a lot of ground to score its touchdowns, taking possession in Lincoln territory on four of its five scores. The game’s opening drive was the Cardinals’ longest, covering 59 yards.
Gardner, who came in for Guffey on the eighth play of the drive, handed off his first snap to Junior Ruiz to move the ball to the 10, then hit Alan Brown for a 7-yard pass before carrying it on in for the touchdown.
When Guffey, who came into the game with 27 of 52 pass completions for 508 yards and seven touchdowns, was injured early, Settles thought that might be a break for the Patriot defense with one less big receiver — Gardner — on the field.
“It wasn’t. They didn’t miss a beat,” he said. “We thought with 20 (Gardner) back there it was gonna help us because he was a big threat to catch the ball on deep routes. But they stayed with their philosophy. Tyler Guffey is a great quarterback, but they also have a great backup.”
Gardner was 7-for-11 passing for 71 yards and a score and he rushed for 27 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.
Logan Martin, Lincoln’s leading rusher with 71 yards on 17 carries, got the Patriots on the scoreboard midway of the second quarter with a 17-yard run up the middle. The drive covered 53 yards in eight plays and was helped along by an offsides penalty against Wayne on 4th-and-3.
Lincoln reserve quarterback Dalton Godbey capped off a 96-yard march to the end zone midway of the fourth with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Austin Cress making it 30-19.
Wayne would answer one last time, with Ruiz, who rushed for 61 yards on five carries, zig-zagging his way 45 yards to the goal line.
The Cardinals fumbled the ball five times, losing possession twice.
“They really stopped themselves tonight. We didn’t stop them,” Settles said. “It was just a bad night. Our kids made some bad decisions. We’ve got to get better as a staff and as a team.”
“It’s just disappointing and frustrating. I’m disappointed for the fans who came out to watch because we had some excitement going but there wasn’t much excitement tonight for us.”
STATISTICS
