Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Lincoln snaps 24-game skid
Lions block PAT to beat Elizabeth City State for huge homecoming victory
LOWER OXFORD » Homecoming at Lincoln was never so sweet. With members of the 2008 football team on hand to be honored on the 10th anniversary of the return of football, and the stands filled with alumni and friends for homecoming, the Lions snapped a 24-game losing streak with a hard-fought, 21-20 victory over Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) Saturday.
The win was the first since topping Lincoln (MO) 33-23 back in September of 2016, and the first win in the CIAA since beating Shaw all the way back in 2015.
“This feels amazing,” said Lion quarterback Vincent Espinosa. “It’s been a long time just to get a win, and to have it come on my last homecoming is really special. This is great for all us seniors, because we’ll never have another chance to win on homecoming.”
Though Lincoln’s ground game was firing on all cylinders in the early going — the Lions moved deep into Vikings’ territory on several long runs only to turn the ball over — it was the defense that came up with the first big plays of the game for the Lions.
ECSU took advantage of the Lion miscue, and put together a long drive of its own. But the Lincoln defense dug in, and forced the Vikings to settle for a field goal try. Lincoln’s Keenan Reid broke through the line and blocked the kick, while Kendall Brooks scooped up the loose ball and ran it 84 yards to the end zone.
“Last week (an ugly 90-0 loss at Virginia Union) was a really hard week for us,” said Reid. “But the coaches never stopped believing in us. We just knew we had to come out this week and make the plays we know we can make. We had our backs again the wall a few times in the second half, but we made the plays when we had to.”
Playing with its first lead of the season, the Lions rode the momentum to another pair of first half touchdowns. Espinosa threw for both scores, hitting Carlos Croslin for 46 yards, and Reginald Mays for 49, to put Lincoln up 21-0 before the Vikings finally got on board just before halftime on an 80-yard kickoff return from Zion Riddick.
Espinosa led the Lions offensive attack with both his arm and his legs, throwing for 122 yards and a pair of TDs on 6 of 11 passing, while also topping Lincoln’s list of rushers with 59 yards on 12 carries. Lavelle Cloyd chipped in with another 42 yards on 12 carries.
The Vikings battled back into it with two unanswered second-half scores, but failed twice, thanks to a second chance because of a Lincoln penalty, on the PAT attempt that would have tied the game at 21-21. A Lion got a paw on the ball in each attempt to contribute to the misses.
ECSU’s last drive and last hope came with a little over three minutes to play. It went nowhere. Lincoln’s defense stepped up, and stuffed the Vikings, with the final nail in the coffin coming when D’rico Cook sacked Viking QB Ezekiel Best.
“I saw I had the angle, and I just took a leap of faith,” said Cook. “The defense as a whole was just trying to make a play. The ball carrier started coming my way and I just knew I had to make a play and I got the sack of the quarterback. It was a great week of work, followed by a Saturday of executing. Just great to get the win.”
It was the first win for Lincoln head coach Josh Dean, and one he’ll remember.
“The amount of work and effort these guys put in this, and it just paid off,” said Dean. “It was an emotional week coming off a loss like we had last week. So to see them come together and get the job done. I couldn’t be more proud of the way these guys responded.”