Lincoln finishes on positive note

Lions too much for Coventry

kcsports@ricentral.com

COVENTRY — With its playoff hopes no longer existent, the Lincoln football team took to the field at Coventry High School on Friday night looking at the very least to cap the regular season on a winning note.

In a Division II game against an Oaker squad that was also out of the postseason hunt, the Lions jumped out to a first-quarter lead and never looked back, prevailing, 34-21.

“It was a nice team win. We needed all eleven (players) to contribute and we got that tonight,” coach Sean Cavanaugh said, as Lincoln capped the regular season with a 3-4 mark. “Unfortunately, we’re going to lose on tie-breakers, but we made some positive strides at the end there, looking to move forward.”

Julien Karraz led the way with 24 carries for 175 yards as well as three touchdown runs, while quarterback Randall Hein connected with Mike Maraccio and Kyle Moison in the end zone to round out the visitor’s five-score showing. Kicker Erick Solorzano converted on four of his five extra-point attempts, with his lone miss proving to be inconsequential.

For Coventry (2-5 Division II), the night was spent playing from behind essentially from the get-go, with Lincoln racing out to a 21-7 lead after just one quarter of play.

Karraz opened up the scoring for the visitors just 20 seconds in on a 25-yard run into the end zone, before a five-yard pass from Hein to Maraccio made it 14-0 several minutes later.

“We couldn’t stop the run. Those guys

rushed for a lot of yards I’m guessing,” Oaker first-year coach Stanley Dunbar said of his team’s defensive effort.

Coventry responded to Lincoln’s fast start with a score of their own in the first quarter, as sophomore quarterback Will Turner connected with wide receiver Ben Read on a 22-yard touchdown pass, cutting Lincoln’s lead in half, but the visitors quickly answered back.

A pair of long runs by Hein set up the Lions deep in Oaker territory before Karraz carried the ball across the goal line on a one-yard run to make it 21-7.

Coventry’s defense settled in by the second quarter, as they managed to keep the Lions out of the end zone, thanks in large part to a goal-line interception by Thomas McCarthy, setting up an 80-yard scoring drive of their own.

Read caught a 27-yard pass from Turner, while running back Nick Carpinello followed suit with an explosive 35-yard burst from the line of scrimmage, setting up a one-yard TD run by Owen Catoni, the first of two scores on the night for the senior running back, as the two sides went into the break with Lincoln leading, 21-14.

Ultimately though, Coventry’s defense didn’t make the necessary plays down the stretch to allow the offense to complete a successful rally.

“Just made too many mistakes for us to come back and win the game,” said Dunbar.

The Lions doubled their lead with 3:06 to play in the third quarter on Moison’s 21yard run, but a 65-yard scoring play on a pass from Turner to Catoni on the first play of the Oakers’ ensuing drive, cut the visitor’s lead back to seven at 28-21.

As energizing as it was, Catoni’s score it would prove to be the last of the night for the Oakers, with Lincoln’s defense clamping down for the remainder of play.

After Karraz made it 34-21 on a 19-yard run into the end zone with 9:01 to play, defensive lineman Lyric Logan came up with a key sack of Turner on a drive that saw Coventry take the ball down to the Lions’ 36-yard line.

A successful fourth-down conversion by the Lions shortly thereafter all but sealed the win.

Cavanaugh credited his team’s clutch plays on both sides of the ball for being the difference, while also taking the time to compliment the up and coming Oakers.

“It’s a nice team,” he said. “Stanley’s doing a great job getting them back up. They’re hard working kids and it was a grind out there and our kids just made the plays they needed to make.”

While the playoffs are not in store for either team, both still have a pair of contests remaining on the year with a consolation game set for both sides in a couple of weeks to be followed by each school’s annual Thanksgiving Day game.