By T. Scott Boatright
GRAMBLING — The Lincoln Prep Panthers dug themselves into too deep a hole to get themselves out of Thursday night, no matter how hard they scratched and clawed in the second half.
Allowing Glenbrook to score a touchdown on the game’s opening drive and then allowing the Apaches to recover three consecutive onside kicks proved too much to overcome as a late comeback try by the Panthers fell short in a 24-20 loss in a District 1-1A showdown at Panthers Field.
“When you’re a team that plays lackadaisical at times, it takes something to jumpstart your engine,” said Panthers coach Glen Hall. “They got a good talking to at halftime. I just let them know that I’m very disappointed in them and that we were way better than that.
“We gave away three quick possessions just by letting Glenbrook recover three straight onside kicks. We held them to a field on one drive, but they scored 24 quick points and it was over with. If we wouldn’t have done that first … but you know, if I woulda, coulda, shoulda. I give Glenbrook all the praise. They won the game. But I still believe that if my guys would have played at least a part of the first half, it could have ended differently.”
Glenbrook took the opening kickoff and marched 65 yards on eight plays, with Easton Sanders’ 29-yard scoring strike to Jackson Waller putting the Panthers on top 7-0 only 2:41 into the contest.
The Apaches then recovered an onside kick and pushed the ball down to the Lincoln Prep 24-yard line before turning it over on downs.
But after holding the Panthers to a three-and-out possession on their first drive of the contest, Glenbrook marched 52 yards to the Lincoln Prep seven-yard line before Sanders booted a 24-yard field goal that put the Apaches up 10-0 with 39 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The Apaches followed by recovering their second onsides kick of the contest and marched 38 yards on nine plays with Seth Mangum scoring on a one-yard run that pushed Glenbrook’s lead to 17-0 at the 7:52 mark of the second quarter.
Then it happened again as Glenbrook recovered a third straight onside kick and marched 47 yards to paydirt on seven plays to build a 24-0 advantage with 6:00 left in the first half.
“We put all our best (hands) guys over there,” Hall said of preparing for the onsides kicks by Glenbrook. We’ve got our best hands over there and it seems like nobody wants to recover the ball. I don’t know anything to do but put the best guys over there and expect the best guys to make plays.”
Adding insult to injury, it appeared Lincoln Prep had scored on a 65-yard pass from Jordan Brown to D’Tavion Wright with less than four minutes remaining in the second quarter, but the score was called back to an illegal blindside block.
Glenbrook tried a 51-yard field goal in the final minute of the first half, but that fell short and wide left and the Apaches went into halftime still leading 24-0.
But the Panthers roared out of the gates in the second half. Wright ran for six yards before Brown hit Cenario Wilson on a 25-yard quick out down to the Glenbrook 20-yard line.
Then the Panthers let Wright take over on the ground as the senior running back’s two-yard scoring scamper followed by his two-point conversion run cut the Apaches’ advantage to 24-8 at the 8:16 mark of the third quarter.
“The only change we made is we complete(d) that quick out to Cenario,” Hall said. “Once we did that they had to take another man to help put on Wilson because no one can hold him alone. That took a man out of the box and then we were able to run the ball the way we were supposed to. Before that, they just stacked the box up on us.”
After forcing a Glenbrook punt, Wright ran for 41 yards on four carries before Brown connected with Wilson on a 31-yard touchdown pass that cut Glenbrook’s lead to 24-14 with 4:25 remaining in the third quarter after Wright was stopped on a two-point conversion attempt.
On the first play of the Panthers’ next possession, it appeared that Wright scored on a 65-yard touchdown run, but again Lincoln Prep saw a touchdown called back by an illegal block in the back.
But this time the Panthers maintained their composure and kept on driving, with new senior running back Sam Williams powered his way to paydirt from one-yard out with 11:40 remaining in the contest.
Williams’ two point conversion run attempt was stopped, leaving the Panthers trailing 24-20.
“Sam Williams is a new transfer from Texas who just got into school and joined the football team here,” Hall said. “And he is a stud on both sides of the football. He made nearly every tackle for us tonight. His father is one of the football coaches at Grambling and that’s why he transferred from Texas. And we are sure happy to have him.”
Lincoln Prep managed to drive as deep as the Glenbrook 13-yard line, but a dropped pass in the end zone on third down followed by a Brown run that failed to reach the first-down marker turned the ball back over to the Apaches with 6:20 remaining.
But the Panthers had already two time outs, and after recording three first downs and milking the clock on every play, the Apaches were able to kneel on the ball on the games final play to escape with the hard-fought win.
“We’ve got to catch the ball,” Hall said. “We’re supposed to catch the ball. We’re doing everything we can to get them right. Sometimes it’s about concentration — the will to win. And sometimes you don’t know what kind of will you have until you’re in that situation. And I’m thinking we have to put ourselves in that situation more and make ourselves better.”
Next up for Lincoln Prep, now 4-3 and 2-2 in 1-1A, will be a home district game against Cedar Creek next Thursday.
“It’s definitely something we can learn from,” Hall said about taking some good out of the loss to Glenbrook. “It definitely showed we are a good team. It’s going to hurt us in our (power points) ranking, and it always helps to get a good ranking and put yourselves in a position to get a good playoff spot. But it’s up to us now. We just have to keep winning.”
