By Jonathan L. Smith
Last week, Lincoln County played the second game of its own bowl game double-header, while Garrard County played in the first game. Tonight, the Patriots will play in the first game of Garrard’s double-header, kicking off against the Estill County Engineers at 6:00 PM. Garrard plays Lawrence County in the second game. Next year, Lincoln will play Lawrence County and Garrard will play Estill County.
This arrangement of playing in each other’s bowl games is expected to last as long as the current head coaches remain at their respective schools. It is a good arrangement, too. Normally, the visiting teams to a bowl game get paid to play, since they will not get a return game and a home gate. Garrard and Lincoln have agreed to play in each other’s bowl game without getting paid a fee. It is good for both sets of fans as well, ensuring that the first two games of the season are no more than 10 miles away.
Lincoln and Garrard are carrying on football programs that are two of the oldest in the state. Lincoln County traces its football origins to Stanford High School in 1901, and before that at Stanford Academy and Stanford Common Public School were playing football as early as 1894. Garrard’s progenitor, Lancaster High School, was also playing football in those early days.
The two programs have a connected history but so do the coaches. Spencer Crutchfield at Garrard, and Levi Rogers at Lincoln, are first cousins. Sadly, they are both dealing with the loss of their maternal grandfather, Robert Pass, who passed away on August 24th. My thoughts and prayers are with both of them and their families as they mourn the loss of their much beloved grandfather.
Also as part of the arrangement to play in each other’s bowl games, the two teams will meet in the last regular season game, which will be at Lincoln County this season on October 31st. We will talk more about this rivalry in a couple of months.
Tonight, Lincoln County will meet a former district foe that has not been on the schedule since 1990. Any fans younger than thirty-five years old have never seen a game between Lincoln County and Estill County, but there were some real doozies between 1979 and 1990, even though Lincoln County dominated the series.
In 1979, the Patriots won their first district championship by beating Estill County 14-8 in the old sub-district playoff alignment game. Despite some close games, Estill County has only won one game (1983) in the eleven game series. In all of those previous games, Estill County was coached the legendary Hoover Niece, who retired in 1997 after twenty-seven years as their head coach. The game tonight will not have the same meaning to the fans and players as it did during that eleven-year stretch when it was a really good district rivalry, but some old-timers, like me, will remember what it used to be.
The series:
| Season | Lincoln Coach | Opposing Coach | Result | LC | Opp | Site |
| 1979 | Wooldridge | Niece | W | 14 | 8 | H |
| 1981 | Wooldridge | Niece | W | 43 | 14 | H |
| 1982 | Wooldridge | Niece | W | 21 | 19 | A |
| 1983 | Sullivan | Niece | L | 14 | 20 | H |
| 1984 | Phillips | Niece | W | 6 | 0 | A |
| 1985 | Phillips | Niece | W | 35 | 7 | H |
| 1986 | Phillips | Niece | W | 43 | 0 | H |
| 1987 | Phillips | Niece | W | 35 | 7 | H |
| 1988 | Phillips | Niece | W | 47 | 14 | A |
| 1989 | Phillips | Niece | W | 14 | 0 | H |
| 1990 | Phillips | Niece | W | 15 | 12 | A |
| 287 | 101 | |||||
| Total Games | 11 | |||||
| Record | 10-1 | |||||
| Pts/Game | 26.09 | 9.18 |
2025 Matchup
Estill County is coached by second-year head coach Austin Moore. They were 6-5 in 2024, suffering a 54-19 first-round 3A playoff loss to Rockcastle County. In last week’s season opener, the Engineers defeated Western Hills 21-10 in Frankfort. Their dual-threat junior quarterback, Brody Mainous, was razor sharp, connecting on 14 of 16 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown. He also led them in rushing with 124 yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns. Estill was run-heavy last week, with 42 of their 56 offensive plays being rushing attempts.
Lincoln’s defense was in good form last week. They allowed only 84 yards rushing by Madison Southern, a team that many would consider a more formidable opponent than Estill. If Estill’s game plan is to run at the Lincoln defense tonight, they will not likely get 56 offensive plays, and we could see some short series.
On the other side of the ball, Estill County gave up 171 yards rushing to Western Hills on just twenty one carries (over 8 yards per carry). Lincoln County’s running-back-by-committee, led by Damon Spigle, Kash Smith, Tucker Foster, Reed Curlis, and Brycen Mullins, could have a big night running behind their seasoned offensive line if Estill County’s defense is not up to the task.
I like Lincoln’s chances in this game. However, that is why the game is played on the field and not on paper.
Kickoff is at 6:00 PM tonight at Garrard County’s new stadium on Highway 39 at the new school. It IS NOT at Dyehouse Stadium at the old high school. If you go to Maple Avenue, you’ll find plenty of parking but no game!!
GPS Address: 599 Industry Road, Lancaster, KY 40444
