Photo, courtesy of SERG Photography, shows Coach Levi Rogers talking to his team.
By Jonathan L. Smith
Lincoln County and Franklin County played fourteen straight seasons between 1985 and 1998, with the final twelve of those games being regular season district contests. There were some hard-fought battles between these two programs during that time, including a memorable 21-20 Franklin County overtime win in 1995.
In that game, head coach Marty Jaggers went on the field to check on an injured player after the overtime touchdown. As he came off the field, one of his players asked him a question and he stopped to answer it. The official gave him a penalty for being on the field without a timeout. The resulting 15-yard penalty changed the go-for-two game plan and ultimately gave Franklin County the win.
The four Lincoln County head coaches during that stretch have winning records against Franklin County: Larry Phillips (5-1), Jaggers (4-2), Tim Estes (2-0), and Robbie Lucas (1-0). Overall, Lincoln County has won twelve of the fifteen games and leads the series 12-3, but the two teams have not played in twenty-three years, since 2002.
Despite some close games, Lincoln has dominated the series. However, to paraphrase a car commercial, this is not your father’s Flyers. No, this is a new-and-improved, high-flying version. The ground and pound Flyers have given way to the explosive, score-from-anywhere Flyers.
They were 14-1 and the 4A runner-up last year to Paducah Tilghman. In 2023, they were 13-1, with a 4A semifinal loss, and they were also semifinalists in 2022 and 2021. In 2020, they were 4A runner-up. That’s a five year stretch where they made deep playoff runs to the semifinals or finals. They are clearly used to winning, and winning big games.
The Flyers keep reloading, too. They have a sophomore quarterback but their top two rushers, top three receivers, and top two tacklers are seniors. They are explosive on offense, averaging 46 points per game, 240 yards passing per game, and 100 yards rushing. Defensively, they are opportunistic with eleven takeaways (7 fumbles and 4 interceptions).
They are undefeated with wins over Great Crossing, Bullitt East, PRP, Lexington Christian, and Shelby County.
Lincoln County is undefeated, too. They have wins over Madison Southern, Estill County, West Jessamine, Danville, and East Jessamine.
The Patriots are averaging 34 points per game, 131 yards passing per game, and 247 yards rushing per game. The Patriots are also opportunistic on defense with nine takeaways (6 interceptions and 3 fumbles).
Lincoln has been in some dogfights, especially the last two games, with each resulting in three point wins. Franklin County has had three runaways (Great Crossing 54-21, PRP 62-0, and Shelby County 61-0) and two close games. They beat Bullitt East in week two by a score of 28-21 and beat Lexington Christian two weeks later 28-27.
Lincoln County has been more productive rushing (1,238 yards) than passing (657 yards). Franklin is just the opposite, having passed for 1,204 yards and rushed for 501 yards. Interestingly, Franklin County’s pass defense is better than is run defense, giving up 363 rushing yards vs 301 passing yards. For Lincoln County, it is the opposite, giving up 893 yards passing but only 443 yards rushing.
This could be a shootout. Each team’s offense seems to play into the opponent’s weakness, but football games are played on the gridiron, not on paper, and this one will decided that way, too.
Lincoln is led in rushing by Reed Curlis, who has 87 carries for 527 yards and six touchdowns on the season. He also anchors the defense at linebacker. Last week he played every single snap on both offense and defense. That amounted to 112 live-action, full-speed high school football plays. On 32 of those, he was the ball carrier; once he was the receiver of a pass; and 10 times he was part of the tackle on the opponent.
That means that on a little more than one-third of the plays in the game, he either had the ball or was tackling the person with the ball. It’s an impressive stat and it’s the kind of stuff from which high school football legends are made. Reed has given Lincoln depth at running back that has been badly needed with Damon Spigle and Kash Smith both sidelined with injuries.
Lincoln’s top receiver is Bob Floyd with 23 catches for 336 yards. Johnny Adkins (11/140) and Clay Pendygraft (8/94) have been very effective, too. Tucker Foster is Lincoln’s dual-threat quarterback. He has thrown for 657 yards and five touchdowns, while rushing for 259 yards and 8 TDs. Until this past week, he also started at free safety.
For Franklin County, Knox Barrett has completed 87 of 128 passes for 1,091 yards. Those are good numbers but his touchdown to interception ratio is and an unbelievable 13 to 1. Also, Mason Moore has completed 8 of 12 passes for 113 yards and three touchdowns. Altogether, Franklin County has passed for 1,204 yards and 16 touchdowns with only one interception.
Their top rusher, Jack Oldham, has carried the ball 27 times for 128 yards. Altogether, twelve different players have rushed the football for Franklin County for a total of 501 yards. They have scored 14 touchdowns on the ground. Their two placekickers have made 27 of 32 PAT kicks and have not attempted a field goal.
For Lincoln County, Brody Baker has hit 22 of 24 PAT kicks and is 2 of 2 on field goals for the season. He was clutch in the three point win at East Jessamine.
However this non-district game comes out, and it is a big measuring stick for the Patriots, it is not a make-or-break game. Lincoln will start district play the following week against Wayne County.
This is a home game for Lincoln County at Death Valley. The long range weather forecast shows cloudy and 70 degrees at game time. Kickoff is Friday night at 7:30.
