Many
teams in the area decided to beat the heavy rains and have their games on
Thursday instead of playing on Friday. Two teams who braved the elements and
kept their game on Friday were the East Lincoln Mustangs and the West Lincoln
Rebels. The Rebels have had a great season, going 7-2. East Lincoln was hoping
to punch their ticket to the playoffs. They were 4-5. But at the end of the
night, it would be the Rebels left standing.
It was
a defensive struggle the first half. The first quarter was a stalemate. Midway
through the second quarter, the Rebels broke the stalemate with a one-yard
touchdown plunge by Nakathon Phansook. Brendan Ikard’s run for the two-point
conversion made it 8-0. The Rebels had a chance to put points on the board
earlier after recovering an East Lincoln fumble. But a penalty backed them up
and turn it over on downs. 8-0 would remain the score at halftime.
The
Rebels would add to their lead in the third quarter when quarterback Seth Willis
connected with Jesse Hatcher for a 17-yard touchdown pass. Canon Bridges run
for the two-point conversion gave the Rebels a 16-0 lead. The Rebels would
deliver the knockout punch with less than six minutes to go in the fourth
quarter with a two-yard touchdown run by Phansook (PAT failed).
The
Mustangs tried to get a drive going in the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout
but the Rebels would keep the Mustangs out of the end zone. That would be twice
on the night that the Mustangs would go deep in at would be twice on the night
that the Mustangs would go deep in Rebel territory and come up empty.
“Give a
lot credit to our players and coaches tonight. Our players played real hard and
proud of our coaches and the hard work they put in this week against a tough
team, East Lincoln.” said West Lincoln head coach Tom Sain “It’s been a long
time since we beaten them. We knew they had a good team. They’re big, they’re
physical. They played a really good game. I’m proud of our guys, the way they
worked all week and got ready and prepared.”
“I’m
proud of the way our defense stepped up and played tonight against a really
good team. They have a lot of offensive weapons.” Sain said about the defense “We
knew we’d have to prepare for (Sidney Dollar). He does a great job. He’s such a
great athlete. He gets out there and they get the ball to him. We knew we’d
have to play real well against him.”
“We
just struggled offensively to get moving and when we did, we got some penalties,
turnovers and things of that nature.” Said East Lincoln head coach David
Lubowicz “I think (West Lincoln) played a good ball control offense and used
the field to their advantage. They were very impressive tonight.”
“They kept us in every ball game
and given us a chance.” Lubowicz said about the defense “We’re just not
finishing drives. Kudos to the defense. They have done a great job this whole
year. You can only ask so much of a kid before he starts getting tired and
giving up some yards and such.”
West
Lincoln beats East Lincoln for the first time since 2004 and the first time at
home since 2001. The Rebels are also experiencing their best season in school
history. The Rebels (8-2)(4-2) travel to Lake Norman Charter (2-8)(0-6) next
week. East Lincoln (4-6)(2-4) hosts Newton-Conover (4-6)(2-4).
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