Pictured: Reed Curlis runs to daylight last week against Danville. Photo Courtesy of SERG Photography.
By Jonathan L. Smith
Lincoln football made the trip to Nicholasville two weeks ago and won a weather-influenced early-start 6:00 PM game at West Jessamine. This week, they will be on the other side of town, playing at East Jessamine with a normal 7:30 kickoff. East and West were created from Jessamine County High School in 1997.
East Jessamine first appeared on Lincoln County’s schedule in 1999, after becoming a district opponent for four seasons from 1999 through 2002. Lincoln County, under head Tim Estes, won that first meeting, but then East Jessamine won eight in a row between 2000 and 2017. Lincoln County won in 2018 under Spencer Crutchfield and again in 2022 under Josh Jaggers. The Jaguars lead the thirteen-game series ten games to three.
East Jessamine, under second-year head coach Trenton Fields finished 4-7 last season with a first-round 42-0 playoff loss to Southwestern. They currently have a 2-2 record with wins over Bullitt Central (37-28) and Western Hills (44-13), and losses to Dunbar (27-21) and Ashland (41-6)
The Jaguars’ offense is very balanced on the run/pass mix (94 passing plays vs 92 rushing plays), but the passing game has been much more effective. They have gained 769 yards and have scored 9 touchdowns through the air, but have only rushed for 393 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Bryce Bentley has completed 54 of 89 passing attempts (60.6%) with nine touchdowns and only one interception. Their top rusher is junior Jacob Wright who has carried the ball sixty times for 355 yards and six touchdowns. He is their main ball carrier with the other three running backs combining for only eighteen carries. The quarterback, Bentley, does not seem like a dual-threat from the stats. He has fourteen carries for a negative thirty-six yards.
It is safe to say that East Jessamine is more of a passing threat to Lincoln County than a rushing one. Lincoln’s run defense has been stout, giving up more than 100 yards in a game one time this season, and that was last week to Danville’s freshman phenom Jayvian Meaux. In four games, the Patriots are allowing only 84.5 yards per game on the ground. This game will be a good test for Patriot secondary, facing a team that averages 192 yards per game through the air.
East Jessamine will need to be very accurate and handle the football well to be successful against Lincoln’s defense. The Patriots have been opportunistic ball hawks this season with nine takeaways in four games, including six interceptions and three fumbles. Bob Floyd has two interceptions with one each for Drake Willoughby, Johnny Adkins, Tucker Foster. Fumbles have been recovered by Reed Curlis, Justin Mounce, and Tucker Julian.
If the Patriots play up to their potential, they should come home with a win this week. The competition gets tougher after this week, though. More about that later.
It should be good weather Friday night in Nicholasville. If you go, the GPS address is 815 Sulphur Well Pike, Nicholasville, KY 40356.
