Lincoln head coach Ryan Herring said it hasn’t been difficult to keep his team focused with all the festivities going on during the week.
“It has been like every other week,” Herring said. “Of course the homecoming stuff really amps up on Thursday and Friday. The big deal will be getting them back focused come Friday afternoon.”
With a win tonight, the Golden Bears will take a step closer toward clinching a playoff berth for the second straight season. Herring knows accomplishing that against Jacksonville (4-2,3-1) will be tough.
Last week, the Eagles went into Anniston and defeated the Bulldogs, 20-13, in overtime. Quarterback Jackson Bell and running back Dominique Thomas led the Eagles to victory. Thomas rushed for 110 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime on fourth down. Bell led the Eagles with 111 rushing yards on 14 carries. He also threw for 59 yards and a touchdown.
“It is going to be tough,” Herring said. “They have a quarterback who is a winner. He is a good high school quarterback. Against Anniston last week, he made some plays on third and fourth down that allowed them to win the game. They have a good running back that runs hard and gives a good second and third effort. Defensively, they run around and they hit you. It is going to be a fun game for the fans.”
The Golden Bears (4-2,4-0) dominated Cherokee County last week, 35-13. The starters only played in the first half. Herring believes his linemen were the key to last week’s victory.
“I think last week our offensive line was literally dominating the game,” Herring said. “Our defensive line dominated the game. Usually, when you can win up front, you have a good chance to win and we did. We were dominant up front on both sides of the ball and that paved the way for a great game.”
The Golden Bears will have to get some of their young players to fill the void in the backfield tonight. An injury and dismissals to their top two rushers gives some players a chance to see more game snaps.
“We are going to have to get some young guys to step up,” Herring said. ”This is a big game. We have some young guys that are going to really have to step up this week.”
Winning the battle up front on both sides of the ball is going to be key if the Golden Bears are going to improve to 5-0 in the region.
“If we can win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, I think we have a good shot to win,” Herring said. “If we can’t, I think it is going to be a tough game to win.”
Jacksonville leads the series 8-7. Lincoln won the last meeting, 54-21, in 2007.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from Keith Howard Memorial Stadium.
Contact LaVonte Young at lyoung@dailyhome.com. Follow him on Twitter @LYoung_DHSports.
