By T. Scott Boatright
ARCADIA — The Lincoln Preparatory School football team had one mission Friday night — win at Arcadia to lock up at least the final playoff berth in the Division IV Select School playoffs.
And for the Panthers as the final seconds ticked off the clock, it was mission accomplished as Lincoln Prep left Bienville Parish with a 51-28 win and started turning their focus toward postseason play.
“I’m proud of this team and the way they played tonight,” Davison said. “Anytime we play Arcadia it’s a tough, hard football game. But this team kept fighting and never backed down. They kept their focus on our first goal, and that was one earning a spot in the playoffs. Now we get back to work because we hope there’s more wins in store for us down the road.”
Davison said that looking at Louisiana High School Athletic Association power rankings, it looks like that road leads to Reserve in St. John Parish and Riverside High School.
“It’ll be announced Sunday, but from looking at the power rankings it looks like we’re going to be headed to Riverside,” Davison said. “We’re 24 and they’re No. 9, so unless something crazy happens it looks like that’s where we’re headed.”
Arcadia struck first against the Panthers in the regular season finale, building an 8-0 advantage before the Panthers countered with a pair of touchdowns of their own to take a 15-8 lead by the end of the opening stanza.
Lincoln Prep went into the locker room at halftime on top 29-22 thanks to a 13-yard touchdown pass from Josh Kelly to Josiah Spann.
“Josiah scored right before the half ended,” Davison said. “It was a little tight end dump and he hauled it in.”
The Panthers took control early in the third quarter, scoring on their first drive of the second half before adding another score shortly later on a strip sack by Javion Shelton he returned 38 yards for a touchdown on Arcadia’s ensuing drive.
Shelton finished with a team-best 10 tackles, with two of those coming behind the line of scrimmage, along with two forced fumbles including the one he returned for a score.
“They made plays when they were supposed to,” Davison said. “We’ve made big plays on defense like we have all season long. But I’d still like to see our defense be more consistent as far as tackling. But when their number was called and we needed them, they made some plays.”
Kelly completed 7-of-8 pass attempts for 138 yards, with the touchdown to Spann and an interception.
To no one’s surprise, senior Trey Spann and sophomore Jabari Levingston were the offensive workhorses for the Panthers, with Levingston rushing for 150 yards on six carries, including scoring runs of 65 and 25 yards while adding a pair of catches for 58 yards.
Trey Spann totaled 53 yards on four carries, running to paydirt on scoring runs of 1 and 41 yards.
“Those are two that we’re going to always call their numbers,” Davison said. “But we’re going to need them to go further in the playoffs.”
Howard Kirkpatrick added three carries for 36 yards while Zion Hicks totaled 37 yards on three rushing attempts along with a 17-yard catch.
Kirkpatrick, Jr. totaled six takedowns, including two for losses on defense while Trey Spann recorded four tackles along with a pair of pass breakups.
Three other Panthers — Dylan Nshom, Dextin Washington and Eli Ferguson added four tackles each, with Nshom and Washington recorded two takedowns behind the line of scrimmage while Ferguson chipped in with a fumble recovery and a pass breakup.
