Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Junior Wolves Surpass Gentry In Fourth
LINCOLN — The junior Wolves overcame defensive liabilities in the first half as they hosted Gentry Oct. 27, and secured a 30-26 comefrom-behind victory.
After tweaking their defense, Lincoln locked down after struggling to stop Gentry in the first half. Lincoln head junior high coach Tyler Brewer said the junior Wolves had trouble with Gentry’s triple-option offense in the first half. Gentry scored two touchdowns to Lincoln’s one in the first and led 12-6 at the quarter break. The Pioneers extended a 20-18 lead to 26-18 at intermission, but would not score again. Dorton praised the defensive unit for a goal-line stand which preserved the win late in the fourth quarter.
“Defensively, we adjusted to their triple- option,” Dorton said. “That’s the primary reason we won.”
“They were up one to two scores the whole first half and most of the third quarter,” Dorton said. “It’s hard to simulate that in practice. We can talk about the the triple-option, but until you see it at full speed it’s hard to prepare for it.”
Dorton said the junior Wolves were having problem on the interior. At halftime, Dorton conferred with the high school defensive coordinator and those suggestions were relayed to junior high defensive coordinator Justin Bounds, whom Dorton credited with adding another linebacker to the box.
“We made some adjustments and we were able to contain their backs, who were very talented,” Dorton said. “They stepped up in the second half. We finally got a bead.”
The junior Wolves were at the top of their game offensively despited losing leading receiver Daytin Davis (31 catches, 558 yards, 7 touchdowns through 9 games) to injury early in the game while playing cornerback on defense. Davis was held to a single catch for 25 yards, but his absence created opportunities for other receivers. Quarterback Tyler Brewer completed 12 of 20 passes for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. Helping Brewer attain a 60- percent completion percentage were five different receivers. Wideout Eli Rich had 3 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Cordelle Whetsell had two receptions, for 78 yards. He scored once. Runningbacks Blake Arnold (3 catches for 13 yards) and Noe Avellaneda (3 catches for 25 yards) helped keep the Pioneer defense honest. Lincoln ran the ball 17 times for 59 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Avellaneda was the leading rusher with 46 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. Rich ran in a jet-sweep for an 8-yard touchdown.
On the first offensive play of the game, Gentry scored on a 63-yard quarterback run and led 6-0. Lincoln got on the board with Avellaneda running 8 yards out of the wildcat, but a 2-point conversion failed. Gentry answered with a 48-yard fullback dive they broke for a touchdown on fourth and 3 for a 12-6 lead. Lincoln rallied with Rich scoring on a 47-yard pass from Brewer. A 2-point conversion again failed, leaving the score knotted at 12-12.
The scoring frenzy continued in the second period. Gentry scored on a 30-yard pass with their quarterback scrambling. This time the junior Pioneers converted for 2 points to take an eightpoint lead of 20-12. Lincoln was again up to the challenge, scoring on a 47-yard pass from Brewer to Rich. The 2- point try was no good and Lincoln was still behind, 20-18. Gentry added to their lead with a 3-yard fullback dive. They failed on a 2-point try and settled for a 26-18 lead. Lincoln got the last score of the half on a 61-yard touchdown pass from Brewer to Whetsell. Their 2-point attempt failed and they trailed, 26-24, at halftime.
The third period was scoreless, but in the fourth, Rich scored the winning touchdown on an 8-yard jet sweep, putting Lincoln ahead for the first time, at 30-26.
With about two minutes to go, Gentry had first and goal from Lincoln’s 10 yard line. On first down, a halfback toss sweep was tackled for no gain. On second down, the quarterback rolled out to his right but threw an incomplete pass. On third down, Blake Arnold got pressure on the quarterback as he shovels the ball to a running back. The runningback was then tackled by a pack of Wolves for a 3-yard loss. On fourth down, there was an incomplete pass over the middle in the end zone with Mason Pagen on the coverage.
“Our defense had a red zone stop to win the game,” Dorton said.