Rogers hands Lions second straight loss
NEWPORT — The Lincoln High football team had plenty of motivation on Friday night against Rogers. Fresh off their first loss of the season – a drubbing at the hands of East Greenwich – the Lions were desperate to get back to playing the type of football that propelled them on a four-game, month-long win streak.
They were in the right position to do just that, as they took a one-point lead late in the third quarter. Everything fell apart from there, as the Lions gave up two second-half touchdowns to let the Vikings come away with a 27-14 victory at Toppa Field.
“It was a physical game,” Lions coach Sean Cavanaugh said. “[Rogers] played hard. They made plays when they needed to.
“It was a great high school football game. We didn’t come out on the side we wanted to but it was a good football game. We have a lot of work to do to get better.”
Tyler Dusty ran for one of the Lions touchdowns, with the other score coming on a helter-skelter fourth-andgoal play. Quarterback Randall Hien scrambled around to avoid a turnover on downs, and looped the ball to Nicholas Toro in the corner of the end zone for the only Lions lead of the evening.
The Lions trailed by seven and six points at different junctures in the first half. The Vikings entered halftime with a 13-7 lead, mainly thanks to the ever-present Kalil Jones.
Jones rushed for a touchdown and intercepted a Hien pass on consecutive drives in the first half. He rushed for his second touchdown of the day in the fourth quarter, putting the game out of reach for the Lions.
The Vikings attempted to get their run game going with a healthy dose of option plays. The Lions’ defense showed patience and poise, keeping their defensive lanes and stuffing the ball carrier in the backfield on multiple occasions. The Vikings found more success as the game wore on by just running more traditional handoffs.
“It wasn’t so much the option,” Cavanaugh said. “They were running straight at us.”
The Vikings also managed to use the run game to bait the Lions secondary. Quarterback Max Newsome threw the ball deep on two occasions: his first attempt was dropped for what looked like a touchdown, and the second went for a 64-yard touchdown to Edwin Connelly.
Connelly’s long catch and run came directly on the heels of Lincoln’s fourth-down touchdown. A fumbled punt attempt set up the Lions offense at the Vikings 23-yard line. It came down to fourth-and-goal from the 5, when Hien scrambled to his right and found Toro for the lead.
That one-point lead lasted less than two minutes. Connelly streaked down the field for his exciting score, and the Lions followed with a three-and-out.
The loss leads to the Lions first losing streak of 2019. From Sept. 20 to Oct. 12, they went 4-0 in league play, scoring an average of 42 points a game. Their average margin of victory was nearly four touchdowns a game over that span.
Since then, the Lions have run into trouble on both sides of the ball. The still-unbeaten Avengers put up more points on offense and allowed fewer points defensively than any other Lions opponents has managed to date. The 14 points against Rogers was a season low.
Cavanaugh wants to see one simple thing following the tough two-week stretch.
“Response to adversity.”
The Lions will get a chance to make a response when they host Coventry (1-6) this Friday.