by T. Scott Boatright
A strong start slowly faded away as Lincoln Preparatory School fell 62-18 at St. Edmund in first-round action of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Division IV Select School playoffs.
Lincoln Prep’s season ended with a record of 5-6.
That strong start for the Panthers, the 24th seed, against the ninth-seeded Blue Jays came as sophomore running back Jabari Levingston ripped off a 69-yard scoring scamper on Lincoln Prep’s second play from scrimmage to put the Panthers up 6-0 only 57 seconds into the game.
By the end of that opening stanza, St. Edmund led 22-6 after scoring on a 6–yard pass, converting a fumble recovery at the Panthers 33 into a 15-yard touchdown strike, and taking a run 20 yards to the end zone.
“We fought hard,” said Panthers coach Chaunce Davison. “Jabari Levingston scored on the second play from scrimmage. but the game just got away.
“When you jump out like that you’ve got to keep it going. Jabari made a great play. We had a little early momentum, but (St. Edmund) settled down and got going later on in the first quarter and it got away from us.”
Lincoln Prep tightened things up with 8:12 remaining in the first half when freshman running back Howard Kirkpatrick, Jr. powered his way to paydirt on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line to make the score 22-12.
But St. Edmund running back Wyatt Dubois’ 5-yard touchdown run and his own 2-point conversion run with 1:46 left in the second quarter put the Blue Jays on top 30-6 at halftime.
“Missed assignments on things we practiced for,” Davison said. “The kids got frustrated and lost focus. It didn’t happen for us tonight.”
Lincoln Prep’s lone score of the second half came on a 47-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Josh Kelly to Trey Spann in the final two minutes of the contest.
“It’s rough, but it doesn’t take away from the fact we had a strong season,” said Davison, who was in his first season as head coach. “I’m proud of all of them, and I’d especially like to thank my seniors for everything they’ve put into the program over the years.
“This wasn’t the way we wanted it to end, but the dream lives on and we’ll get back to work. We’ve got a lot of good young talent, so we’ll be back. There’s a strong future ahead for Lincoln Prep Panthers football.”
Levingston finished with 107 rushing yards on eight carries while Kirkpatrick added 25 yards on six attempts.
Kelly hit on 8-of-15 passes for a score and an interception while Trey Spann hauled in three of those completions for 107 yards and Josiah Spann added another three catches for 29 yards.
Defensively, the Panthers were led by Kirkpatrick with seven tackles (two for losses) while Zion Hicks totaled seven tackles and an interception, Javion Shelton added seven tackles, Eli Ferguson chalked up five tackles and a forced fumble, and Dextin Washington recorded five tackles.
