By T. Scott Boatright
The Lincoln Preparatory School football team will be fighting to keep a perfect 1.000 historical record intact as the Panthers hit the road to play at Beekman Charter starting at 7 p.m. tonight in Bastrop.
There is a catch to that record — the Panthers have only faced Beekman Charter on the gridiron once, when Lincoln Prep defeated the Tigers 44-6 in Bastrop in 2021.
Beekman School opened in 1914 and taught students in grades 1-8. High School grades were added in 2013, and the current high school building was built in 2015 and expanded in 2016 with Tiger Stadium being added in 2017.
After going 0-9 in 2021, the Tigers have gone 14-7 since and are off to a 2-0 start this season with wins at Delhi (26-18) and at home last week over Tensas (34-0).
Lincoln Prep stands at 1-1 after falling 36-6 in its season opener at D’Arbonne Woods in the season opener before bouncing back with a 48-0 home win over Magnolia School of Excellence last week.
Panthers coach Glen Hall knows his team will face a bigger challenge this week against the Tigers, who enter the contest riding a four-game home win streak.
“I know they’ve got a good offense with a big running back and a talented quarterback,” Hall said. “They know how to move the ball and how to score points. So that’s going to be our first goal — slowing down those two guys and trying to force them to throw.
“That coach they have (Joseph Purvis) is a good one and has those guys playing good football. We are going to need to be ready and to be focused. This is a good team we are going up against.”
The Tigers also feature a strong defense, led by lineman Kade Aaron who had two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, along with a punt block in Beekman Charter’s win at Delhi.
“They are solid on both sides of the ball. A big part of this game is going to be the trenches. This kind of game is one that can be either won or lost up front,” Hall said. “We’re going to have to be smart and protect the football and not give these guys any extra possessions, because they’ll take advantage of that if we do.”
In a game pitting his Panthers against Beekman Charter’s Tigers, Hall said he expects to use a lot of Wildcat offense for his team.
“One of our senior running backs, Jaylin Huntley, has a bad ankle and I don’t know if he’ll be able to play,” Hall said. “And even if he does, I do not expect him to be able to play a lot.
“So, we will probably use a mix of D’Tavion (Wright) and Verlanski (Glosson) quarterbacking in the Wildcat and serving as our key ball carriers. Verlanski showed last week he is a pretty good Wildcat quarterback and using him there means we don’t have to rely only on D’Tavion, and that can hopefully help keep him healthy and not get worn down.”
That does not mean the Panthers will not use senior quarterback Jordan Brown behind center.
“Jordan is our quarterback, and we will use him because he gives the defense another kind of look, they don’t see in our Wildcat,” Hall said. “We want to mix things up and keep (the Beekman Charter defense) off balance, so we’ll also put Jordan out there in a more traditional set and try to let him use the play-action pass and try to find some of our receivers in open space.”
Hall hopes last week’s big win over Magnolia is one his Panthers can build on against Beekman Charter.
“I think that got our guys fired up, and I know it helped build their confidence because I’ve seen it,” Hall said. “I have seen it in practice this week. Our guys have come out and practiced hard.
“They have gotten to practice early and have stayed late working on some individual drills. They are fired up right now. They just must keep it going. They are hungry. Hopefully they’re hungry for a win.”
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