By T. Scott Boatright
Finish.
Finish strong after all 48 minutes.
But most importantly, take every opportunity you have to finish.
That’s the message Lincoln Preparatory School head football coach Glen Hall has been asking his Panthers to focus on this week.
Lincoln Prep stands at 2-3 heading into Friday’s game at Richwood. The Panthers could easily be 4-1.
“That’s the thing that kills me— we haven’t been that far away,” Hall said. “Arcadia just plain beat us. Beat us bad. We’ll deal with that.
“But we should have beaten Jonesboro-Hodge. But we let it get away. We should have won last weekend at Lakeside. But again, we let it get away in the end. That can’t happen. Those games are the difference between being a good team or a bad team. Good teams find ways to win those kinds of games.”
The Panthers tied the game at Jonesboro-Hodge 24-24 with a late touchdown 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.
Lincoln Prep was driving for a late potential score on Friday at Lakeside, getting down to the Warrior’s 15-yard line before a touchdown with two seasons left ended the Panthers’ comeback hopes.
For Hall, it’s a matter of helping his team overcome inexperience and learn to live in the moment — especially the big ones.
“We put ourselves in losing positions both times,” Hall said. “We led both of those games at halftime. We get chances to win early but don’t take advantage of them.
“And it’s not big plays the opposing team is making that are killing us — it’s the little things, the mental things. It’s turning the ball over too many times, especially in the big moments when we need to make plays. It’s committing drive-killing penalties just by not focusing and not executing.”
Individually, the Panthers are learning their roles and doing what’s being asked of them.
Lincoln Prep’s two-quarterback system is producing. Senior Bralyn Mayfield hit on eight-of-24 passes for 180 yards and two scores with one interception against Jonesboro-Hodge while adding three carries for 14 yards.
Senior Chauncy Harper hit on two of his four pass attempts for 80 yards and a score while leading the Panthers with 105 yards, a touchdown on 16 carries with a two-point conversion run. Harper added a 10-yard reception and a pair of tackles for good measure.
Senior Brandon Heard has become the Panthers’ offensive X-factor and did it through his receiving against Jonesboro-Hodge, hauling in six catches for 160 yards and three touchdowns.
But still the Panthers find themselves below .500 at the season’s midpoint.
“It’s a mental thing,” Hall said. “And the thing is — while we have some newcomers, most of these players were part of last year’s team that won a big home playoff game we played against Delhi at Louisiana Tech. They’ve been part of the big moments. They’ve been part of big wins. They’ve shown that they know how to win.”
Hall hopes that happens Friday when the Panthers play up the Class at 3A Richwood, which stands at 4-2.
“It won’t get any easier this week,” Hall admitted. “Richwood is a talented, well-coached football team. There’s a reason I schedule games against bigger and talented teams like Jonesboro-Hodge, Lakeside and Richwood. Those kinds of games help get you ready for conference season, and hopefully even for what’s beyond that.”
What Hall wants to see from his Panthers at this point is a re-dedication on mental and physical execution and learning to finish a game early if and whenever that opportunity arises.
“The thing we’ve got to stop doing is finding ways to beat ourselves,” Hall said. “If we lead at halftime, we need to make sure we protect that lead in the second half. We can’t drop perfect passes that should have been touchdowns. We can’t fumble the exchange between the center and the quarterback. We can’t do any of those negative things.
“We just need to reset. We need to refocus and get our minds right. We need to make sure we’re executing properly. We just need to focus on the little things that when put together can add up to the difference between a win and loss. We need to stay positive. And we need to focus on finishing and winning games. That’s the way to finish the season strong.”
