By T. Scott Boatright
Sometimes change can provide a spark that can ignite a football team.
That ideology paid off for Lincoln Preparatory School Friday night as the Panthers roared to a 42-0 road win at Ringgold to snap a three game losing skid.
It was a change at quarterback that provided that spark for Lincoln Prep as sophomore Joshua Kelly started for the first time ever and made the most of that opportunity while also allowing Zion Hicks to focus on his defensive role instead of playing both ways.
Kelly completed 2-of-4 passes for 25 yards while rushing for another 20 yards and a score on four carries.
“We’re just trying to make sure we use all of our resources to the best advantage to the team,” Davison said. “We’re just trying to do the best job of finding the right mix of talents. Zion is important and a leader as our free safety and the change helped keep him fresher doing that and paid off for the whole team. We knew we wanted to run the ball, and Josh can run pretty good, so we figured it was the right time to make that change.
“Josh did a pretty good job for us for his game out there. He’s been around for a while and we decided it was time to put him in there and see what he can do for us.”
Sophomore Jabari Levingston was the workhorse for the Panthers, rushing for 170 yards, including scoring runs of 40, 29, 25 and 15 yards while leading Lincoln Prep with seven tackles and two interceptions, including a 58-yard pick six, on the defensive side of the football.
“Jabari has been really big in our secondary and had two interceptions, including another pick six,” Davison said. “He’s a good basketball player, but getting him out on the football field has really helped this team. He was our workhorse against Ringgold and did a great job.”
Jaylin Huntley added four rushes for 34 yards for Lincoln Prep.
Davison said a big part of the quarterback change was a decision to focus on the run game.
“We decided we were just going to run the ball — just keep on hammering,” Davison said. “We just kept pounding and that opened things up there in the third quarter. We thought we might have a good matchup there and the guys just went out and took care of business.”
Senior Trey Spann was another part of changes for Lincoln Prep as he totaled 59 yards on four carries while younger brother Josiah Spann had a 16-yard reception while adding six tackles for the Panthers’ defense.
“We mixed it up with him and ran him from the slot and we put him in the backfield some, too,” Davison said of the way Trey Spann was utilized. “Like I said, we decided to mix things up a little bit and see that might do for us. Trey is a hard worker, a high football IQ guy who can help us in a lot of ways.
“The thing is, we can put Trey anywhere because he can do so much. And with Josiah catching the ball the way he has the past few games, it just gets both of them even more touches. We’re blessed to have both of those Spanns playing on our team.”
Defensively, Eli Ferguson added six tackles and a sack for the Panthers, Nick Nelson added another sack, Ryan Randolph had a fumble recovery and Howard Kirkpatrick, Jr. chipped in with four tackles.
“He’s just a freshman, but he’s a tough kid,” Davison said of Kirkpatrick. He’s a warrior. He’s a fighter. He wants to get out there and make plays.”
Lincoln Prep led 15-0 at halftime before igniting for 21 points in the third quarter to take firm control of the contest.
Davison said he hopes the win that moved the Panthers to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in District 1-1A play will help lead to more, including a road game at Glenbrook on Friday.
“We needed that,” Davison said of the win. “And to do it like we did really helps push our morale up. If we want to try to make a run in the second half (of the season), we need to keep playing like that. We want to change our fate and make a run for the playoffs.
“I keep telling our guys that we’re a better team than they think. And if we can whoop that monkey in our mind, we’re going to be OK.”
