Lincoln stops Tokay cold
Tokay had no answer to Lincoln in a Tri-City Athletic League football game at Hubbard Field on Friday.
Although in the first quarter, Tokay and Lincoln were deadlocked in a scoreless game. But the visiting Trojans moved the football very well in a 64-0 win over the Tigers.
“That’s a good football team,” said Tokay coach Michael Holst of Lincoln.
But early in the second quarter, Lincoln needed a span of just 13 seconds to jump out to a 14-0 lead. Trojan running back Jonah Coleman (12 carries for 119 yards) scored on a 57-yard run, racing down Lincoln’s sideline, going untouched while racing toward the south end zone with 11:13 on the clock. Bernadino Galindo booted the extra-point, as he was successful on eight of nine attempts.
Then Lincoln outside linebacker Ignacio Gonzalez recov
ered a Tokay fumble when the Tigers had the ball at their own 15-yard line. Gonzalez didn’t run far after the recovery, as it was a 3-yard touchdown. The Trojans made it 14-0 with an even 11 minutes left on the clock.
During the second quarter, Tokay (1-2 in the TCAL, 2-5) had trouble moving its offense. The farthest the Tigers could reach was the Trojans’ 33-yard line late in the quarter. But Lincoln (3-0 in the TCAL, 8-0) had already built a 36-0 advantage.
Three different Lincoln players went into the end zone to make it 36-0. Quarterback Kenyon Nelson, only a freshman, scored on a 4-yard keeper with 9:35 left for a 21-0 lead.
After Trojan defensive tackle Jayden Mestayer recovered another Tokay fumble at the Tigers’ 21-yard line, running back Jaylen Blacksher scored on a 22 yard run, after the previous play netted a loss of a yard, at 8:49 to make it 28-0.
Coleman scored his second touchdown of the game that made it 36-0 on a 1-yard run, going up the middle of the Tigers’ defense. Zayvier Hamilton ran in the 2-point conversion.
Before halftime, Coleman grabbed a 66yard pass from Nelson with 52.3 seconds on the clock. Galindo’s kick made it 43-0.
Game officials called for a running clock just 21 seconds into the third quarter — which is when Lincoln increased its lead to 50-0. Another Tokay fumble on the kickoff return at its own 30 led to Coleman punched in another touchdown from the same distance on the first offensive play for the Trojans.
Tokay quarterback Jacob Varney found success with the air game after the Trojans’ latest TD. He completed 3 of 6 passes to Jacob Schneider, Joseph Filippini and Quinn Carter, a sophomore who was recently moved up after playing on the Tigers’ junior varsity team. Carter also started at left defensive back.
“We were able to step up,” Holst said. “Quinn made his first varsity catch. He’s an aggressive kid, he’s fast. He’s super athletic. He’s a kid we looked at earlier to pull up. He’s learning.”
That moved the football to the Trojans’ 49. But an incomplete pass on fourth down and five led to Lincoln getting the football back again.
Lincoln scored its final touchdown of the quarter when Aaron Jaimes-Rodriguez completed a five play, 51-yard drive with a 5-yard run with 1:12 on the clock.
The Trojans’ final touchdown of the game came when running back Samuel O’Schmalbeck scored on a 24-yard run with 3:50 left in the game.
In the first quarter, Tokay and Lincoln locked helmets in a defensive battle. The Tigers forced the Trojans to cough up the football on loss of downs. Tokay only had two offensive possessions, with the second one that carried over into the second quarter. Both times the Tigers were forced to punt.
“We played really well,” Holst said. “We were physical, tackling.”
Varney completed 6 of 19 passes for 61 yards and two interceptions. Filippini, who has rushed for 1,142 yards and 19 touchdowns this season, was held to 8 yards on 15 carries.
“I think we struggled with the run game because they (Lincoln) did a good job up front,” Holst said.