Happy Homecoming Lincoln Wins 42-12

LINCOLN BEATS GREEN FOREST TO START CONFERENCE PLAY

MARK HUMPHREY  ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Lincoln's 2022 Homecoming Court posed at the south end zone of the football field following the coronation of Tabor Lewis as Homecoming queen at Wolfpack Stadium. Homecoming maids (names not in order) included: freshmen Hannah Remington and Layni Birkes, sophomores Makayla Quinn, Makenna Doss, and Makayla Lee, juniors Amber Bryant, Mika Arnold, Nv-Ya Jackson and Zella Pomeroy, and seniors Elizabeth Tran, Saylor Stidham, Lily Riherd, Lewis, and Ryleigh Landrum. Attendants were Scarlett Stone and Reid Turner.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Lincoln's 2022 Homecoming Court posed at the south end zone of the football field following the coronation of Tabor Lewis as Homecoming queen at Wolfpack Stadium. Homecoming maids (names not in order) included: freshmen Hannah Remington and Layni Birkes, sophomores Makayla Quinn, Makenna Doss, and Makayla Lee, juniors Amber Bryant, Mika Arnold, Nv-Ya Jackson and Zella Pomeroy, and seniors Elizabeth Tran, Saylor Stidham, Lily Riherd, Lewis, and Ryleigh Landrum. Attendants were Scarlett Stone and Reid Turner.

LINCOLN -- Lincoln scored twice in 29 seconds in the last four minutes of the first half to break open an early dogfight on the way to beating Green Forest, 42-12.

The Wolves not only celebrated Homecoming Friday, but picked up an important league win in Lincoln's first 4A-1 Conference game since 2019. They struggled early, wasting a golden opportunity with sophomore Kale Jones running the opening kickoff 87 yardss back to the Green Forest 5-yard-line. Lincoln couldn't punch the ball in and turned it over on downs.

"Coming out of a bye you never know what to expect. I felt like we did start just a little bit slow for three or four minutes there, then we got the wheels turning. Yeah, that was tough, and then we fumbled the ball out of the end zone later on in the first half. In the first half we didn't execute very well. Our offense has been nails all year and they didn't come out as hot as they have and that's where the defense has to pick up the slack and finally we were able to do that. The defense has not been real good year," said Lincoln coach Reed Mendoza.

Lincoln scored on its second possession with junior quarterback Drew Moore finding Jace Birkes on a 48-yard touchdown pass to complete a six-play, 61-yard drive. T. Vang kicked the PAT and the Wolves finally got on the scoreboard leading 7-0 with just inside four-and-a-half minutes to play in the first quarter.

Another opportunity slipped through Lincoln's fingers on its third drive when Kellar Price caught a pass from Moore and almost bulled his way in for a score, but fumbled before crossing the goal line and ball went out-of-bounds in the end zone resulting in a touchback with the Tigers taking over first-and-10 at their own 20.

A controversial pass interference call took an interception away from Birkes, who broke on the ball and took it away from the intended receiver. He elevated and was undercut. Insult was added to injury when the officials flagged him and marked off 15 yards against the Wolves. Birkes checked out, but returned later and finished the game.

"I thought it was pretty clean. He went up and I thought he got to the ball at the same time as that guy and had contact on the ball, and then maybe came over him. I thought it was weak to be honest. I thought that crew did a good job, but I thought that was pretty weak," Mendoza said.

An even bigger controversy occurred on the second play of the second quarter. Billy Bruegel ran into a wall of defenders, which stopped his progress. Lincoln defenders thought they heard a whistle and let him go. Still on his feet, the 5-feet-9, 195-pound senior ran 54 yards for a touchdown. A run failed to add the conversion for Green Forest, but the Tigers were within, 7-6, at the 11:40 mark of the second quarter.

To compound matters a Lincoln player got flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play. The Wolves, however, weren't going to flop.

"There was a little adversity. We didn't handle it just exactly the best, but they did respond well and they got it right," Mendoza said.

Green Forest tried an onside kick which Ryan Provence recovered for the Wolves at midfield. Lincoln couldn't cash in on the short field turning the ball over on downs at the Tiger 41, a yard short of a first down.

The Wolfpack defense rose to the challenge forcing a three-and-out and Green Forest punted.

Green Forest coach Greg Tibbit saw the lack of production from his offense as a downfall.

"Our defense played well early. We just couldn't get the ball moving and they're a really good football team. They're ahead of us right now. We just couldn't get anything going offensively," Tibbit said.

Lincoln's exercise in futility continued when Boris Tobar intercepted a deep Moore throw and was brought down at the Tiger 39. The Wolves' defense again wouldn't allow a first down. Green Forest punted and Jones returned the ball out to Lincoln's 39 but 10 yards were marked off for a block in the back penalty.

The Wolves ran off 15 plays, advancing the ball 36 yards only to experience yet another turnover on downs at Green Forest's 35.

Lincoln's defense was playing lights out at that juncture led by defensive lineman Mason Adkins and linebacker Trace Wallace. Wallace belted Green Forest receiver Braden Epperly after a catch keeping him short of the first down marker. On third down Adkins got in the face of Tiger quarterback Isaiah Fraga forcing an incomplete pass.

Green Forest punter Jesus Romero Castillo got off a 35-yard kick that went out-of-bounds.

On the next play Moore threw to Jones coming out of the backfield on a short route. He turned the jets on going 68 yards to the house. Vang's PAT kick made it 14-6 with 3:56 showing in the second period.

The Wolves changed the complexion of the game on defense. Tye Moss hammered Fraga on a blindside sack causing a fumble that Lincoln middle linebacker Layne Sellers recovered at the Tiger 24.

"That was big for us. They were just hustling around for us and making big plays. Tye Moss is a kid, who thrives against spread type teams because he's really quick off the ball. He's not overly big (5-9, 165 pounds), but he's going to run to the football. Against that large of an offensive line, he's got to have some advantage because of his quickness, and they have a real big offensive line," Mendoza said.

No Tiger guarded Caden Brewer on the next play and he caught a pass at the five and waltzed into the end zone untouched stretching the Wolves' lead to 21-6.

Lincoln recovered an onside kick, but after two dropped passes and a ball batted down by the Tiger defensive line, possession once more reverted to Green Forest on downs.

Wallace picked off a Tiger pass and ran the ball back 30 yards into Green Forest territory. The Tigers were flagged for a personal foul with 15 yards added to the end of the interception return. Lincoln had time to run one play from the Green Forest 34, but Brityn Gilliam broke up a pass at the goal line keeping the Tigers within 21-6 at halftime.

Jones scored a trio of touchdowns in the third quarter enabling Lincoln to establish a running clock with the sportsmanship rule activated. Jones caught a pass from Moore on the edge and accelerated up the sideline for a 57-yard touchdown with 9:16 showing.

"He hit the sideline and he was on a mission for sure. That was very good out of Kale. He's a playmaker and it's nice to have playmakers because they're going to do their thing," Mendoza said.

Jones added a pair of rushing touchdowns from two and five yards to give Lincoln its largest lead of the contest at 42-6.

Green Forest scored against Lincoln's second team defense with Joel Salgado catching a 23-yard pass from Fraga with three seconds remaining in the third. The Tigers recovered an onside kick deep in Lincoln territory at the Wolfpack 26. Mendoza, who calls the defense this season, sent the first unit back onto the field and Ty Burks intercepted a Fraga pass at the five to end the threat.

Neither team scored over the final 11:39 of the fourth period and Lincoln won 42-12 to begin conference play 1-0.

"That's huge, we got such a long way to go, but starting off 1-0 we feel like puts us in a position to make that push for the post season and not just get in. We want to see [what we can do in the playoff]. I talked earlier in the year about maximizing our potential, whatever that may be and I think that's definitely a playoff spot and then as far as seeding goes, let's find out," Mendoza said.

Even with the promotion of long-time league powers to Class 5A, Tibbit doesn't expect the 4A-1 to be a pushover.

"Everybody talks about the two big boys leaving, Shiloh and Prairie Grove, but Lincoln and Ozark are good football teams. They're well-coached, they do a good job. I don't think it's fallen off that much. It's still a good football conference," Tibbit said.

Lincoln 42, Green Forest 12

Green Forest^--^6^0^6^0^--^12

Lincoln^--^7^14^21^0^--^42

First Quarter

Lincoln -- Jace Birkes 48-yard pass from Drew Moore (T. Vang kick), 4:26.

Second Quarter

Green Forest -- Billy Bruegel 54-yard run (run failed), 11:40.

Lincoln -- Kale Jones 68-yard pass from Drew Moore (T. Vang kick), 3:56.

Lincoln -- Caden Brewer 24-yard pass from Drew Moore (T. Vang kick), 3:27.

Third Quarter

Lincoln -- Kale Jones 57-yard pass from Drew Moore (T. Vang kick), 9:16.

Lincoln -- Kale Jones 2-yard run (T. Vang kick), 6:42.

Lincoln -- Kale Jones 5-yard run (T. Vang kick), 5:24.

Green Forest -- Joel Salgado 23-yard pass from Isaiah Fraga (pass failed),0:03.

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