By T. Scott Boatright
The second half of the season resurgence continued for Lincoln Preparatory School Friday night as the Panthers went on the road and took down Glenbrook 25-7.
Over the past two games first-year Panthers head coach Chaunce Davison has become a gridiron chemist of sorts, moving players around to find the right mix to create a winning combination.
Simply put, the changes the Panthers have shown over those past two games is obvious, and in a very positive fashion with Lincoln Prep winning by a combined score of 62-7 over Ringgold and Glenbrook.
Part of that change has come in their attitude. A Lincoln Prep team that might have gotten frustrated during the first half of the season kept fighting against Glenbrook despite not getting on track until the second quarter.
On their first possession the Panthers drove from their own 42-yard line down to the Glenbrook 24 before turning the ball over on downs.
And on their second possession, the Apaches used passes of 28 yards on a screen and 16-yard slant to set up freshman quarterback Louie Collin’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Carson Whitehead to put Glenbrook up 7-0 with 9:15 left in the second quarter.
Adding insult to injury, the Apaches recovered the ensuing onsides kickoff at the Lincoln Prep 44-yard line.
But three plays later Jabari Levingston picked off a Collins pass and returned it to the Glenbrook 38 yardline.
Two plays later freshman fullback Howard Kirkpatrick, Jr. powered his way 3 yards up the middle to paydirt before Josh Kelly added the PAT kick that knotted things up 7-7 with 6:08 left in the second quarter.
Glenbrook looked to be driving for the go-ahead score with the clock winding down toward halftime before Lincoln Prep’s Zion Hicks intercepted a pass in the end zone and raced it back 103 yards for a score as time expired to put the Panthers on top 14-7 at intermission.
Interceptions have become a key part of Lincoln Prep’s play this season, with the Panthers scoring on his second pick six in as many weeks (Levingston had one last week).
“If they get their hands on it, you better have somebody out there because they can take it to the house,” Davison said of Levingston’s and Hicks’ play against the Apaches. “We have some good kids. Some athletic kids. Those two kids I can see playing on Saturdays one day.”
Another big part of that chemistry Davison and Co. have been mixing up is changing Kirkpatrick’s jersey number from the 56 he had been wearing playing in his linebacking role to the 45 the freshman now wears as an offensive weapon, too.
“We’ve got to,” Davison said about playing Kirkpatrick on offense as well as defense. “Activate Howard, man. He’s a young guy that wants the ball. He wants to do it. And I’m happy for him, man. I’m happy for him.”
Kirkpatrick runs of 13 and 17 yards on the opening drive of the second half helped set up Kelly’s 15-yard quarterback keeper for a score at the 9:22 mark of the third quarter to extend the Panthers lead to 19-7.
Kelly is another part of Davison’s change in team chemistry, and in his second game as starting quarterback the sophomore totaled five carries for 53 yards while completing 4-of-6 passes for
another 61 yards.
“Josh is a smart football player,” Davison said. “He’s got a good football IQ and can do a lot of things. He kind of hid from us when he first came. But it’s like him kicking extra points, and he can kick field goals. We haven’t somebody around here that can really do that. But he said, ‘Coach, I can kick it.’
“He’s just a guy that doesn’t mind having the ball and doing whatever it takes, whatever he needs to do for the team. And that’s what we need in a quarterback.”
Lincoln Prep’s final score came early in the final stanza as Trey Spann took a handoff and ran wide left down the sideline for a 19-yard touchdown.
Spann broke the century mark in his expanded role as part of the Panthers rushing corps, totaling 101 yards on eight carries while adding a pair of receptions for 19 yards.
Karmelo Goins had Lincoln Prep’s other two catches for 42 yards and Kirkpatrick finished with 39 rushing yards on nine attempts while adding six tackles.
Defensively, Lincoln Prep was led by Javion Shelton with eight tackles, Levingston with seven tackles while Jakobe Jones and Aiden Ferguson added six each.
Ryan Randolph chipped in with five tackles while Hicks and Josiah Spann added three tackles and one interception each.
“I was happy to see that we put together some drives on offense,” Davison said. “People stepped up and took on the challenge. Maybe the biggest thing is that they didn’t put their heads down when we got down. They attacked and they kept going.
“They made some big plays after some tough calls, and that’s all I want from my kids. Just keep fighting. Keep fighting. Football is a fight. It’s an up and down situation. We’ve got to keep going. And I love the way they responded and battled back tonight. This win was big for this team. We’re fighting for the playoffs. We’re trying to get in there. Trying to run this thing out and keep on winning.”
Next up for the Panthers is a District 1-1A cross-parish showdown at Cedar Creek.
“We’ve finally got as little momentum,” Davison said. “We’re finally kind of rolling. We’re ready. Let’s get it. I’m just happy for this team. Let’s go play. Keep on fighting.”
