Lincoln football takes over in the second half to down Wells, take over second in the PIL

GOOSE HOLLOW – The only thing that could stop the Lincoln High School football offense on Friday night as the final buzzer.

The Cardinals scored on all seven of their possessions, plus a kickoff return TD, taking down Southwest Portland rival Ida B. Wells 54-38 to take over second place in the PIL.

From start to finish, the Cardinals were able to move the ball behind their plethora of playmakers and selfless blockers.

“Our offense is amazing, our coach says every week that he has too many mouths to feed,” Lincoln junior Greyson Murff said. “We have two running backs who can score, I can score at the wing, we have four receivers, we have a quarterback who can run and throw, line’s blocking. We practice it every day and get it done, it’s executing one play at a time.”

The offense needed it in the first half as the Guardians (3-4, 3-2 PIL) opened the game with a 52-yard touchdown run from Fletcher Hamman, but they missed on the two-point try.

Lincoln (6-1, 4-1 PIL) responded with its own big play. Senior quarterback Finn Davies escaped a sack, rolled to his right and found junior Reed Eldridge in the end zone. The PAT made it 7-6 Cardinals.

Both sides went back and forth again, starting with Kannon Walter finding paydirt on a 68-yard sweep for the Guardians, then a 72-yard TD run from Murff on the Cardinals’ first play of the ensuing drive.

Lincoln finally got a stop by forcing a turnover on downs at midfield toward the end of the first frame. The Cardinals got down close and Davies found Eldridge once again, this time from 13-yards out to go up 20-14.

Wells worked its way down the field once again and finished it with a 1-yard TD run from Kurt Jordan on fourth down. Jordan rushed for the two-point try as well to put the Guardians ahead 22-20 with only 3:21 left in the half.

However, Lincoln went up tempo and got to midfield in less than a minute. That allowed the Cardinals to get back to its normal pace, and Davies found senior Blake Timothy down the near-side seam for a 27-yard TD right before halftime.

Lincoln led 26-22 at the break with nearly 300 yards of offense.

“I think (Davies) has great rapport with Blake Timothy, they’ve been playing together since they were freshmen,” Lincoln head coach Cody Schnaufer said. “Him and (Eldridge) have a real strong connection.”

Lincoln got the ball first to start the second half and ended the drive with a 14-yard TD run from junior Leonardo Correani, pushing the lead to 34-22 after Davies hit Emmanuel Wisbrock on the two-point conversion.

Wells turned the ball over on downs once more, this time on the 50 and Lincoln drove down to the Guardians 3-yard line right before the end of the third quarter.

On the first play of the fourth, Lincoln was back in the endzone on a 3-yard TD from senior Zan Galton, making it 40-22 after a failed two-point try.

The Guardians needed a score to have any chance of staying in the game, but on fourth down they went deep with a pass and Timothy came down with the interception.

“We get our D-line to get penetration in there and take up bodies for our linebackers to go to work,” Murff said. “Our DBs, it’s the No Fly Zone over here, you can’t throw anything past them.”

Davies rewarded Timothy further by finding him in the far corner of the endzone for another TD, Davies fourth of the night and Timothy’s second. The PAT made it 47-22 with only 4:20 to go.

Wells went quick and got another score, this one a 25-yard TD run from Elliot Mahoney. Seneca Semau hit Ryland Hoover for the two-point conversion.

On the ensuing onside kick, Murff scooped it up near midfield and it took it the house though, keeping Lincoln’s lead at 54-30.

Mahoney scored once more for the Guardians, followed by a two-point conversion run from Zorina Johnson to provide the 54-38 final score.

Winning the game wasn’t just big for the standings, but it was big for rivalry bragging rights as the Cardinals hadn’t won since 2017 in this matchup. The two sides didn’t play in 2018 and 2091 with Wells down in 5A.

“I talked to myself today, we had a teammate Brady Holland (who graduated last year),” Murff said. “I said to myself that I’m playing this one for him, he never got to beat this team. So I just thought of him on every single play.”

Murff finished the night with 169 rushing yards on nine carries with a TD and the kickoff return TD. Galton went for 105 rushing with a score and Correani had 53 yards with a TD. Davies was 4-for-4 for 99 yards and four TDs, two apiece to Timothy and Eldridge.

For Wells, Hammon led the way with 90 yards on 10 carries and a score. Jordan had 81 yards with a TD, Walter had 83 yards and a TD, and Mahoney had 71 yards with two TDs.

“After Roosevelt, there was a little bit of a let down, but I think this was the best week of practice we’ve had all year, definitely the best week of Wells practice we’ve ever had since I’ve been here,” Schnaufer, in his third year at Lincoln, said. “The victory and the rivalry and all of that is for the guys in the stands. For us, our goal is battling every week for one more week together.”

Lincoln has a couple more weeks left in the regular season to try and keep pace in the PIL race being a game back of Roosevelt, who took down Franklin on Friday.

The PIL gets two automatic bids to the postseason, and with the win over Wells, Lincoln now sits in second alone and in control of that second bid.

Wells, entering the week as the first team out in terms of an at-large bid, will either need some losses by Roosevelt and Lincoln or for its ranking to go up. The Guardians finish the season hosting 5A Canby next week at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24 and then a road game at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30 against Jefferson.

For Lincoln, it looks to keep the two-game win streak rolling when it welcomes in Jefferson next week at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24. The Cardinals close the regular season out at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30 at Cleveland.

“We talked to our seniors from June on, ‘You’re only guaranteed nine of these things, you’ve gotta savor each one,’” Schnaufer said. “I am so happy for them, we have a bunch of alumni on staff, I’m happy for the students. I just think that’s a good win against a great team.”