By T. Scott Boatright
JONESBORO -— A loss is never easy to take, for the players or their coach.
But there was at least slight consolation for Lincoln Preparatory School football coach Glen Hall after watching his team fall in a 30-26 come from behind win by Jonesboro-Hodge at Caldwell Peacock Stadium.
The Panthers were coming off a 44-0 loss last week at Arcadia but gave Jonesboro-Hodge all it could handle, with the Tigers having to score in the final minute to escape with the win.
“It was tough, but we got better,” Hall said. “We played hard. I don’t like to lose and I know my team doesn’t like to lose. But they played a good game. A game we can build on. A game that will make us a better team.”
The Panthers, now 2-2, found themselves in an early hole as Jonesboro-Hodge led 6-0 at the end of the opening stanza and stretched that advantage to 12-0 in the second quarter.
But then Lincoln Prep Bralyn Mayfield and the Panthers heated up.
Mayfield hit Brandon Heard for a score that cut the Jonesboro-Hodge lead to 12-6 before the Panthers tied things up at 12-12 off a touchdown run by Chauncy Harper.
Lincoln Prep then kicked off, but the Tigers fumbled the ball on the return, giving the ball back to Panthers three seconds before halftime.
“We did a post corner, and Bralyn threw it back side to the end zone and ‘Little’ (Jamarion) Buggs made a heck of a catch,” Hall said. “That was for a score and we went in at the half up 18-12.”
Heard ended up with 14 points on the night as his late score tied the game at 24-24 and then he added the two-point conversion to put the Panthers on top 26-24.
But Jonesboro took back over with a little more than four minutes and moved on top 30-26 on a three-yard touchdown run by Ed’Tavious Drayton with 49 seconds remaining.
The Tigers failed on the two-point conversion attempt, leaving the Panthers with the chance of pulling off a late score of their own.
Lincoln Prep had entered the game fighting a plague of fumbled away quarterback snaps, but got through the game against Jonesboro-Hodge until fumbling the ball away on fourth down to allow the Tigers to go into the victory formation.
Harper was in at quarterback for the Panthers on that play, a decision that Hall made himself.
Bralyn was a little gimpy, but I put Chauncy out there because he had been hitting the edges,” Hall said. “I thought he gave us the best chance to break one for the score. It was close, but it just didn’t happen tonight.
Mayfield connected on 20 of 43 pass attempts for 201 yards while adding 17 rushing yards. Heard led the Panthers with nine receptions for 65 yards and his two scores while Jaiden Page added three catches for 36 yards.
“Baylin played well. He made a couple of mistakes but didn’t turn the ball over. He threw three touchdowns. But he gained valuable experience throwing the football, and that’s going to help us down the line.
“We’re gaining experience. We’re learning what we can and what we can’t do. Hopefully next week I’ll have all of my starting linemen back. We got Jacobie Bedford back but then we lost Curtis Hendricks, my other starting tackle. But that’s not an excuse. It’s just the next man up.”
Lincoln Prep will next play at Lakeside, which stands at 3-1 after winning 40-6 at Block Friday night.
