Kickoff was held at 6:45 p.m. instead of 7 in an effort to get the game in before expected thunderstorms later in the evening. Heavy showers at halftime led officials to institute 8-minute quarters in the second half instead of 12-minute quarters.
That still gave Lincoln enough time to churn out 395 rushing yards in the game. The stingy Golden Bears defense allowed only a net 3 rushing yards to the Cougars, who also completed two passes in the game for 43 yards.
D.J. Howard returned to action this week, leading the rushing attack for Lincoln with 147 yards, though he did not score in the game. Ra’keem Truss had 98 rushing yards.
Lincoln scored two touchdowns in the first quarter, two in the second, a safety in the third and one more touchdown in the fourth quarter. Lincoln’s offense had the ball seven times and scored five times.
After forcing a Central punt on the game’s opening drive, Lincoln was pinned at the 1 yard line after a 53-yard punt by Central’s Chuck Bradley. But Truss broke loose on a 73-yard run on Lincoln’s second play to break into Cougar territory. Damon Collins scored on a 14-yard run, and Logan Brown kicked the first of five PATs from Kasey Ray’s hold for a 7-0 lead.
Lincoln’s Martel Montgomery intercepted a Cougar pass to get the Bears’ next drive started. Howard broke the drive open with a 25-yard run to the 1-yard line, and Rod Green punched it in to make it 14-0.
Lincoln forced a punt to get the ball a third time, and scored a third touchdown early in the second quarter. Howard sparked the drive with runs of 48, 8 and 15 yards before losing his grip on the ball at the 2-yard line. The ball fell into the end zone where teammate Terrance Montgomery recovered for a touchdown.
Then came a turnover break.
Lincoln’s Nigel Mosley intercepted a Cougar pass; Central’s Demarcus Ferguson recovered a Lincoln fumble on the Bears’ next play; then Lincoln’s Denver Orr recovered a Central fumble in Cougar territory at the 37-yard line—and Lincoln scored again.
Lincoln used seven plays to reach the goal line, with Green scoring on a two-yard run to end first half scoring at 28-0.
Lincoln took the opening kickoff of the second half and was forced to punt for the first time in the game. The Bears held Central behind the Cougar 20-yard line, and when Central tried to punt a high snap sent the ball dangerously near the goal line. Punter Chuck Bradley kicked it out of the end zone to take a safety rather than risk another Lincoln touchdown.
On Lincoln’s final possession the Bears drove 64 yards to score again. This time it was Desmond Wills who got the touchdown on an 8-yard run.
Lincoln hosts Anniston (5-2 4-1) next week in another region game while Central-Coosa (0-7,0-5) travels to Munford (2-5, 1-4).
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