Johnie Logue
Sports Reporter
The Lincoln Cardinals defeated Slater on Friday night, 48-8 at home in district play. They moved to 9-1 on the season and will host South Callaway (6-4) this Friday night.
South Callaway beat Tipton 22-20 by blocking a winning field goal attempt in the final seconds. Lincoln hoped for a rematch with Tipton to avenge their only loss of the season, but will have to wait until next year to settle that score.
Lincoln had beaten Slater 46-0 back on September 30 in Lincoln.The Cardinals used a few players in different positions throughout this contest.
Lincoln started off fast in the game but just simply outmanned the Slater squad.
Ross Johnson would rambled 16 yards for the first TD and would find the end zone for the 2-point conversion for an early 8-0 lead after Lincoln's first possession of the night
A crushing sack by Camden Everhart on the 39 yard line stopped Slater's second drive.
Lincoln fumbled on the ten, going in, but a Slater fumble on second down ended up in the endzone, covered by the aforementioned Everhart for a safety.
Lincoln would stretch their 10-0 lead with a touchdown by Kyle Eckhoff and a pass reception for two by Eckhoff to make it 18-0 at the end of the first quarter of play.
Johnson would take it to the house on a 31 yard run and also do the honors on a another 2-pointer for the 26-0 lead at the 8:17 mark on the clock.
Lincoln's speedy quarterback Connor Lynde decided to get in on the act on a TD run to the left side and another 2-point conversion made it 34-0 at the 2:50 point of the first half.
An interception by Lynde and another TD run by Johnson then a pass to Eckhoff for 2 points made it 42-0 at the 1:16 tick of the clock.
Freshman Anthony Srader scored in the second half and the 2-point try by Everhart was good to make it 48-0. Slater would score to make it 48-8 as their 2-8 season came to an end. The Wildcats have several good juniors returning next season.
Everhart, improving each time out, had two fumble recoveries on the night.
Lincoln's line of Christian White, Dallas Drake, Mack Hesse, Ben Eckhoff, Jacob Plumb, Ely Tolliver and Steven Kranz had a good night on both sides of the ball.
Johnson had three TD's and three 2 pointers going 15-148 on the night. Lynde was 10-77, Srader 12-99, Everhart was 4-38 and Eckhoff was 5-33.
Kaleb Mundy's lone reception for 18 yards set up the first touchdown. Eckhoff was 3-29. Hesse had a 2-point catch of three yards.
Johnson and Eckhoff led with 11 tackles each.
Coach Drehle said, "I thought our kids did a good job playing fast and physical Friday night. Our offensive linemen did a nice job in the run game."
As mentioned earlier, Lincoln will host a 6-4 South Callaway team on Friday at 7:00pm. A sweet victory will move them into the district finals hosting either Cole Camp or Fayette. Need I say more?
Coach Drehle commented, "South Callaway will be a tall task. They are a team that has continued to get better each week. They have really played well the last month of the season. They are fast and physical and well coached. It will be a challenged for us. I am excited to see how our kids respond and play."
BCE TV will have all of the action this Friday at 7:00pm.
