Lincoln Takes Football To Another Level

WOLVES WIN HOMECOMING 41-7

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Lincoln senior Sterling Morphis makes a leaping interception of a pass intended for Berryville's Ethan Gregory (No. 9) while Morphis' teammate Blake Arnold (No. 22) tries to avoid dislodging the ball. Morphis hung on and returned the pick 42 yards to set up a Wolf touchdown during Lincoln's 41-7 Homecoming victory over the Bobcats on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Lincoln senior Sterling Morphis makes a leaping interception of a pass intended for Berryville's Ethan Gregory (No. 9) while Morphis' teammate Blake Arnold (No. 22) tries to avoid dislodging the ball. Morphis hung on and returned the pick 42 yards to set up a Wolf touchdown during Lincoln's 41-7 Homecoming victory over the Bobcats on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018.

LINCOLN -- Defending a double-pass on the first play from scrimmage turned into a double-edged sword Berryville found itself dealing with throughout Lincoln's 41-7 Homecoming triumph Friday.

Wolf quarterback Caleb Lloyd threw behind him to slot receiver Noe Avellanda, who then chucked the ball downfield to Blake Arnold

"We ran a little trick play, we threw it in the flat to Noe Avellanda, a backwards pass," Harrison said. "He took it, stopped at the last second and threw it to Blake Arnold, who caught it for a big play. It was a good start for us. We wanted to start fast."

Harrison said the Wolves feel good about themselves when they get out of the gate and score.

"Even last week against Pea Ridge, we got the ball and on our first possession we ran a 14-play drive for a touchdown," Harrison said. "We're really concentrating on starting fast and we wanted to start with a little razzle-dazzle, a little something to get us excited cause it was Homecoming so we ran a trick play to start us off."

The play had the effect Harrison sought with Lincoln fans roaring their approval. Wolfpack Stadium was rocking and rolling as the Wolves are off to their first 5-1 start since 2013; and only the second in school history. On the other side of the ball, Berryville was a little taken aback.

"Once you do something like that and you do it and they know you're going to do it, they have to be ready for any other trick play so it makes them play on their heels a little bit," Harrison said.

Lincoln polished off the drive with a Lloyd 12-yard touchdown toss to tight end Levi Wright, who was split out to the left then slanted in. Later Lloyd hit senior receiver Sterling Morphis with a 6-yard touchdown pass and the Wolves opened up a 14-0 first quarter lead.

Lincoln tacked on two more touchdowns in the second period. Senior fullback Bradley Drain on a 2-yard run and left guard Kong Lee recovered a Drain fumble in the end zone.

"Bradley's good short yardage for us," Harrison said. "Bradley's done a real, good job whether he's in there blocking or whether he's carrying the ball. He runs real hard, and he's one of those seniors that's really stepped up and leading the team."

Lincoln led 28-0 at the half.

Cam Brown returned to action after sitting out five weeks. He ran the ball, lined up at wide receiver and caught passes, plus returned kickoffs -- creating an impact with multiple touches.

"Cam's our Swiss Army Knife," Harrison said. "He's our tailback, he's a wide receiver when we need him and he's actually third-string emergency quarterback so he's kind of a Swiss Army Knife is what Coach (Reed) Mendoza calls him so really glad to get him back tonight. He's been working really hard. I'm just really proud of what he's doing. He worked real hard to get back and he was excited."

Avellanda is another multi-dimensional player.

"He's another one of those guys, he's very versatile," Harrison said. "We can move him around. We can do all the things that we want to do and can do with him and he's just another one of those X-factor-type kids whether he catches the ball in space, whether he's running it in space."

Avellanda had a touchdown called back on what Harrison thought was a questionable holding call after catching a screen pass and making what Harrison describes as "an unbelievable cut."

"It's tough sometimes, but he just keeps going," Harrison said. "We can put him in the backfield, and carry the ball. He does a great job for us."

Defensive end Chance Blankenship forced at least one incompletion by getting in the quarterback's face before he could set up throw.

"Chance is doing an awesome job," Harrison said. "We picked him to speak at the pep rally tonight, just because he's really stepping up and he's taking a lot of responsibility on this defense and making sure that everybody knows what the call is and they're getting lined up correctly. The guy plays hard from the snap to the whistle every play. I don't we catch him loafing ever. It doesn't matter, practice, games, walkthrough, the guy's concentrating, he's focused and he's another one of these guys that's really taking this program hopefully to another level for us."

LINCOLN 41, BERRYVILLE 7

Berryville^0^0^0^7^--^7

Lincoln^14^14^6^7^--^41

First Quarter

Lincoln -- Levi Wright 12-yard pass from Caleb Lloyd (Noe Avellanda kick).

Lincoln -- Sterling Morphis 6-yard pass from Caleb Lloyd (Noe Avellanda kick).

Second Quarter

Lincoln -- Bradley Drain 1-yard run (Noe Avellanda kick).

Lincoln -- Kong Lee fumble recovery in end zone (Noe Avellanda kick).

Third Quarter

Lincoln -- Noe Avellanda 1-yard run (kick blocked), 1:14.

Fourth Quarter

Lincoln -- Christian Crittenden 6-yard run (Noe Avellanda kick), 8:17.

Berryville -- Scotland Lucas 16-yard pass from Richard Heithold (kick), 2:15.

Sports on 10/10/2018