By T. Scott Boatright
After a frustrating home loss last weekend to Jonesboro-Hodge, the Lincoln Preparatory School football team hits the road for the first time this season as the Panthers play at Lakeside in Sibley starting at 7 p.m. today.
Lakeside stands at 3-1 while Lincoln Prep is 1-3 after that 40-point loss to Jonesboro-Hodge that saw two players walk away from the team during its postgame huddle with Coach Glen Hall.
But one of those players returned later that night and Hall said he’s seen a mental focus this week that he hadn’t until this week.
“We’ve had a great week of practice,” Hall said. “These guys are working hard and have their heads on straight. They’re excited and want to turn this thing around.
“One of them came back and picked his pads up later that night after the game,” Hall said. “He’s got some injured ribs that happened at the end of the game last week but is part of things and has the right attitude. The first one that walked away last week isn’t out here.”
The player not returning was the Panthers’ starting running back, but Hall said he already has a plan in place he feels will overcome that obstacle.
“We’re moving one of our linebackers, who’s making a lot of tackles for us — Tyler Wimberly — to running back,” Hall said. “He’s green, but he plays hard. He’s still learning the game, but he never quits. It’s just a learning process for him. He lost his helmet last week and thought we were taking him out of the game. He didn’t know the rule about a helmet coming off during a play. So we sent him right back out there. He plays hard and isn’t afraid of contact.”
Hall likes what he’s seen so far from Panthers junior quarterback Jordan Brown.
“Jordan is getting better — he’s learning and listening better,” Hall said. “I’ve figured out all of his strengths and weaknesses. So I’m going to make sure we utilize that and play to his strengths.”
And ever the football scientist, Hall has an experiment planned to make that happen even more than simply playing behind center.
“We’re going to use some wide-set offense,” Hall said. “And we’re going to put D-Tarion Wright in at quarterback some and move Jordan out from quarterback to play some running back, too, to get him in some open space. We’ve got some surprises planned. They might beat me, but they’re not going to outwork me looking for ways to help my team get better and win.”
Lakeside’s loss came in a season-opening loss to Arcadia before the Warriors reeled off three straight wins against Ringgold, Plain Dealing and Block.
“We’ve got to take advantage of this game and try to get a win because we’ve got a road game against that monster called Richwood next week,” Hall said. “Richwood might be a little down to start the season but they always have a good group of talented skill position players.”
Hall said tonight’s game will feature a ground and pound attack from both sidelines.
The Warriors’ senior running back — Jordan Case — has rushed for 724 yards and 11 scores on 73 carries so far, averaging 9.9 yards per run in the process.
“Lakeside is like us — they don’t really have a quarterback either,” Hall said. “So they really don’t throw very often. They’re going to use that fast running back and turn him loose. We know what’s coming and will be ready. Their coach texted me and said both teams are both just like the other.
“It’s always a good game between these teams. We beat them a couple of years ago and they came back and beat us last year. Yeah they’re 3-1 and we’re 1-3, but I think our schedule has been tougher. We’re going to battle, I promise you.”
