Lincoln puts scare in LC-M Bears

By DAUCY CRIZER

Port Arthur News Special Correspondent

ORANGE - Lincoln used its best (Jason) impersonation, along with a frightening defense to rout Little Cypress-Mauriceville 36-7 to open 20-4A district play on Friday the 13th.

The BumbleBees put up 21 quick first quarter points and never looked back to keep their season perfect at 6-0. Lincoln's performance looked perfect on the scoreboard, but left some room for improvement according to coach Dick Williams.

"It feels great to get a win," commented Williams after the game. "We made too many turnovers and had too many penalties in the second half. It was ugly, but I'll take it."

The defense turned in another outstanding performance. Only an 18-yard TD pass from Humberson to Landon Hebert with 29 seconds left in the game prevented the Bees from posting its second straight shutout.

Lincoln limited the Bears to 225 yards of total offense. Until the last drive of the game, the Bees had held LC-M (2-4, 0-1) to just two second half first downs. Junior defensive end Willie Acrond anchored the defensive unit that forced two fumbles, both recovered by Acrond, and three interceptions.

For much of the game, the Bees put eight players at the line of scrimmage to stop the Bears wishbone attack. That strategy worked to perfection as LC-M was limited to 141 yards on 44 carries, a paltry 3.2 average. That forced the Bears to pass more, where Humberson and Tim White combined to complete just six-of-16 attempts for 84 yards.

"We had to contain them and control their running game," Williams said of the defensive attack. "Our kids have played good defense all year. They take a lot of pride in the defense and it shows.

"The defense also did a really good job of not letting them in the end zone. They had several chances to score, but the kids really stepped up and shut them down."

The Bees scored on its first two possessions of the game, the second aided by a LC-M turnover, and completely dominated the Bears in the early going.

Lincoln took the opening kickoff and scored seven plays later to take the early lead. Sophomore quarterback Calvin Roberts connected with Ricky Wilson for a 30-yard scoring strike. Wilson looked to be stopped after the catch, but made two would-be tacklers miss en route to the end zone.

After a fumble by LC-M quaterback Derrick Humberson, the Bees needed just two plays to score again. ShanDerrick Charles, who finished the game with 167 yards on 14 carries, ripped off a 34-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. Fullback Marcus Sias scored one play later on a 1-yard plunge.

The Bees closed out the 21-point first quarter with an 83-yard TD run by Charles. Lincoln defensive back Daniel Francis set up the Bees score with an interception at their own 8 yard line.

"The first half was a very business like effort," said Williams. "We sputtered to get things going in the second half. We turned the ball over on several drives and committed most of our penalties in the second half."

The aformentioned turnovers included losing four of five fumbles and throwing an interception. Charles was guilty of putting the ball on the turf twice, a direct result of the injury to his right hand, according to coach Williams.

"ShanDerrick is used to carrying the ball in his right hand, which is the one that is hurt. Now he has to carry the ball in his left hand, and he's not used to it.

"I thought he still played a great game under the circumstances. He doesn't practice much because of the injury, but I told him after the game we need to get him in there more this week because he looked to be running out of gas."

Lincoln closed out its scoring on a pair of touchdown receptions by Graylon Proctor in the second half. The first came on an 11-yard scoring strike from Roberts in the third quarter and the second one covered 39 yards midway through the fourth quarter.

Things don't get any easier for the Bees as they face West Orange-Stark, also undefeated on the season, in another key district matchup next Friday.

"I shouldn't have to do much to motivate the players," said Williams on the upcoming game with the Mustangs. "We just need to work hard in practice in getting ready for the game and see what happens."

Statistics from Houston Chronicle

 

PA Lincoln (6-0,1-0)	21	0	7	8		--	36
LC-Mauriceville (2-4,0-1)	0	0	0	7		--	7

PA--Ricky Wilson 30 pass from Calvin Roberts (Corayon Gorrer kick) 9:22, 1st

PA--Marcus Sias 1 run (kick failed) 8:24, 1st

PA --Shanderrick Charles 83 run (Ricky Wilson run) 1:20, 1st

LC--Graylon Proctor 16 pass Roberts (Gorrer kick) 4:56, 3rd

LC--Proctor 39 pass from Roberts (Daniel Francis run) 4:31, 4th

LC--Landon Herbert 18 pass from Derrick Humberson (Ryan Pickering kick) 0:29. 4th

Leading rushers PA--Shanderrick Charles 14-167, 1 TD. LC--Keith Ingle 9-60.

Leading passers PA--Calvin Roberts 8-14-1, 138 yards, 3 TD. LC--Derrick Humberson 2-5-1, 52 yards, 1 TD.

Leading receivers PA--Garylon Procter 4-74, 2 TD. LC--Landon Herbert 3-39, 1 TD.