By T. Scott Boatright
Three yards forward, five yards back — it was that kind of night for the Lincoln Preparatory School football team.
Unfortunate breaks, a plethora of penalties and a lack of disciplined play proved too much for the Panthers to overcome as Glenbrook defeated Lincoln Prep 50-36 in a District 1-1A showdown.
It wasn’t that the Panthers didn’t have their chances — they had plenty early on.
Lincoln Prep struck first as quarterback Jabari Levingston hit Josiah Spann on a 15-yard touchdown pass. Levingston then connected with Karmelo Goins for the 2-point conversion to put the Panthers on top 8-0 just 2:30 into the contest.
Glenbrook countered by marching 55 yards on eight plays, scoring on a 1-yard quarterback keeper to cut the Panthers’ lead to 8-7 with 6:18 remaining in the opening quarter.
But the Panthers battled back with a 55-yard, 11-play counterpunch of their own to push their advantage to seven points after Levingston broke loose on a 15-yard touchdown run with 1:51 remaining in the first quarter. The 2-point conversion attempt failed.
Glenbrook tied the game as the first-quarter clock expired when Apaches quarterback Louie Collins scored his second touchdown of the night, this time on an 11-yard run, to make it 14-14 heading into the second quarter.
After holding the Panthers to a three-and-out on the ensuing possession, the Apaches drove 69 yards on 13 plays, with Ryan Reagan plunging 1 yard into the end zone to put Glenbrook on top 21-14 with 5:33 left in the first half.
But again, the Panthers clawed their way back as Levingston found Goins for a 19-yard touchdown pass. Levingston’s 2-point conversion run failed, but Lincoln Prep remained only one point behind at 21-20 with three minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Glenbrook added a 33-yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining to move in front 24-20.
Or so it appeared.
That was when the discipline issues started costing the Panthers. A Lincoln Prep penalty wiped the three points off the scoreboard and gave Glenbrook another opportunity.
The Apaches capitalized, scoring on a 5-yard run with 16 seconds left in the first half and adding a 2-point conversion run to take a 29-20 halftime lead.
The Panthers kept battling to start the second half, with Levingston, playing safety on defense, ripping the ball out of a Glenbrook ball carrier’s hands and racing 62 yards for a touchdown that cut the Apaches’ advantage to 29-26 just 1:14 into the third quarter.
Glenbrook’s ensuing drive was aided by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Panthers at the end of a 23-yard gain.
The Panthers were called for another personal foul on the next play as Collins scored his third touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run that pushed Glenbrook’s lead to 36-26 with 8:44 left in the third quarter.
After that, the Panthers simply seemed to lose control, with players yelling at each other and at coaches on the sidelines as the game spiraled away.
Glenbrook intercepted a Levingston pass following another personal foul against Lincoln Prep and drove 52 yards for a touchdown to push the Apaches’ lead to 43-26.
After Lincoln Prep failed to pick up a first down on its ensuing possession, Glenbrook drove 39 yards for another touchdown to extend its advantage to 50-26 with 8:37 remaining in the game.
Levingston scored on a 16-yard run with 2:43 remaining to account for the final points of the contest.
An obviously disappointed Panthers head coach Chaunce Davison struggled to find the words, or even understand, how a tight, hard-fought game had unraveled so quickly for his team.
“One good play and you take it away with two bad plays,” Davison said. “Plays that didn’t need to happen. Shouldn’t have happened. If you’re not disciplined, you can’t win. And tonight we weren’t disciplined. The players, the coaches, none of us were disciplined enough to get past what we did to ourselves.
“We get a stop and force Glenbrook to kick a field goal and then do something stupid to give the ball back to them and let them score a touchdown. It’s frustrating. We beat ourselves as much as Glenbrook beat us tonight, and that doesn’t make sense.”
The loss overshadowed a stellar performance by Levingston, who accounted for four touchdowns while rushing for 110 yards on seven carries and completing 10 of 18 passes for 174 yards.
Defensively, the Panthers were led by Howard Kirkpatrick Jr., who recorded eight tackles, including two for loss.
The Panthers close out the regular season next week with a road game at Cedar Creek, which entered Friday night’s game at Haynesville undefeated.
