Final from Russell Springs
Lincoln County 35
Russell County 12
Summary
The Patriot never trailed but led only 7-6 at halftime. After the break, Lincoln dominated the second half and pulled away for the victory.
Our InterCounty Energy Lineman of the Game is J.D. Westerfield. After the game, he commented, “We came out slow and realized we had to get after it.”
Our Guardian Exterminating and B-Green Lawn Care Player of the Game is Tucker Foster. On rushing for 165 yards, he said, “I give all the credit to my big guys. They made the blocks and I ran through the holes.”
The Lincoln County Daily News dot Com Play of the Game was the fumble return touchdown by Tucker Foster. Tucker said, “Some guy punched it out, it landed in my belly, and I ran it back.”
After the game, Lincoln County head coach Levi Rogers said, “We played well in the first half but had trouble getting the ball in the end zone. Despite that, we controlled the first half, and I knew we just needed to stay the course in the second half.”
Both Tucker Foster and Damon Spigle rushed for 100 yards in the game.
The Patriots’ record is now 7-2 and 2-1 in the district. This win secures second place in the district and a home playoff game in two weeks. This is the first season of winning at least seven regular season games since 2007. Lincoln Counnty closes out the regular season next week at home versus Garrard County. The seniors and their parents will be honored prior to that game.
Scoring
LC 1Q 7:13 Tucker Foster, 16-yard fumble return, Brody Baker kick (LC 7-0)
RC 2Q 11:47 Tanner Stringer, 67-yard run, kick failed (LC 7-6)
LC 3Q 8:15 Damon Spigle, 10-yard run, Baker kick (LC 14-6)
LC 3Q 4:38 Tucker Foster, 9-yard run, Baker kick (LC 21-6)
RC 4Q 11:53 Tanner Stringer, 4-yard run, 2-pt run failed (LC 21-12)
LC 4Q 9:10 Reed Curlis, 2-yard run, Baker kick (LC 28-12)
LC 4Q 2:56 Tucker Foster, 6-yard run, Baker kick (LC 35-12)
Series-by-Series Recap
Russell County won the coin toss and deferred their choice to the second half. This was the first “cool” game of the season. The temperature at kickoff was 51 degrees with clear skies.
The Lakers came out with an onside kick that was recovered by Lincoln County at midfield. On the first play, Damon Spigle ran 14 yards for a first down to the 36-yard-line. Tucker Foster ran for one yard after that. Then a 5-yard pass from Foster to Johnny Adkins. An illegal procedure penalty moved Lincoln County back to the 35-yard-line. On third-and-nine, a pass to Bob Floyd was incomplete. On fourth-and-nine, Foster connected with Bob Floyd for a 10-yard pass to the 25-yard line.
Spigle got no gain on first down. On second down, Foster hit Adkins for a first down but a holding call moved it back to the 35-yard-line. Spigle ran for a yard after the penalty. Then, on 3rd down, there was an offside call on Russell County. That gave Lincoln County a third-down-and-thirteen, but an incomplete pass made it fourth-and-thirteen, which was converted on a 17-yard pass to Clay Pendydraft, then Spigle got a yard on a run, then an incomplete pass. Then, from the 10-yard line, Tucker Foster was intercepted by Miles Davis in the endzone. He brought it out to the 6-yard line.
On Russell County’s first play after the interception, Christian Williams fumbled and Tucker Foster returned it 16 yards for the touchdown with 7:13 to play in the first quarter. Brody Baker added the PAT kick and Lincoln County led 7-0
Russell County started the next drive from their own 16-yard line. They picked up a first down at the 26-yard line and appeared to have another one at the 43-yard line but a holding penalty moved them back to the 20-yard line. They moved it out to the 33-yard line where they punted on fourth down.
Bob Floyd returned the punt to the Russell County 45-yard line. Spigle ran for two yards on first down and then Tucker Foster ran for 23-yards for a first down at the Russell County 20-yard line. Then, Spigle lost a yard followed by a gain of two by Foster and an incomplete pass. On fourth down, Brody Baker’s 36-yard field goal appeared to have been partially blocked. That was his first miss of the season.
After the miss, Russell County started from their own 20-yard line and after two running plays, picked up a first down at the 33-yard line. On the next play, quarterback Tanner Stringer raced 67 yards for a touchdown with 11:47 to play in the 2nd quarter. The PAT kick failed and Lincoln County led 7-6.
Brycen Mullins returned the ensuing kickoff to Lincoln’s 37-yard line. On the first play after the kickoff, Bob Floyd fumbled the ball after a successful catch and Russell County took over at the Lincoln County 43-yard line.
Tanner Stringer got a first down at the 33-yard line on a scramble after a bad snap. After another first down to the 20-yard line, Bob Floyd returned the take-away favor by intercepting Russell County at the 5-yard line.
On first down, Spigle ran for three yards. On second down, Tucker Foster ran 8 yards for a first down at the 16-yard line. That was followed by a 10-yard pop pass and run by Bob Floyd to the 26-yard line. Then, Reed Curlis ran for three yards to the 29-yard line, and Tucker Foster ran for 25-yards to the Russell County 46-yard line.
On first down from there, Foster ran for three yards to the 43-yard line. On second down, there was an incomplete pass. On third down, Foster was tackled for a two-yard loss leaving Lincoln with a fourth-down-and-nine at the 45-yard line. There, Foster found Johnny Adkins for an 11-yard gain and a first down.
Foster ran for three-yards and then Spigle ran for seven yards and a first down at the 24-yard line, followed by a bruising 21-yard run by Spigle to the three-yard line. On first-and-goal, Justin Mounce ran for a one-yard gain, then Spigle got tackled for no gain on second down. On third-down-and-goal, Tucker Foster easily scored but a penalty flag for holding nullified the touchdown and Lincoln County was moved back to a third-and-goal from the 12-yard line. An incomplete pass left it fourth-and-goal from the 12-yard line. Tucker Foster scrambled around and looked like he might find the end zone but was tackled short at the 5-yard line.
Russell County got it at their own 5-yard line with less than a minute to play in the half. Russell County killed the rest of the time and Lincoln County took at 7-6 lead to the intermission.
To start the second half, Brody Baker sent the kickoff into the end zone and Rusell County started from their own 20-yard line. On first down, Tanner Stringer was tackled for a loss back on the 16-yard line by Grady Foster. After two incomplete passes, Russell County punted from their own 16-yard line.
After a 25-yard punt, Lincoln County started their first drive of the second half at the Russell County 42-yard line. On the first play, Tucker Foster raced 42 yards for an apparent touchdown but had his second score of the night nullified by a holding penalty. The penalty was down field from the line of scrimmage, so it moved the ball back to the 42-yard line. On first down over, Foster ran nine yards to the 33-yard line. Two runs later Spigle got a first down at the Russell County 20-yard line. Foster then ran for a first down just inside the 10-yard line where the Patriots had it first-and-goal where Damon Spigle scored with 8:15 to play in the 3rd quarter. Brody Baker kicked the PAT and Lincoln County led 14-6.
Lincoln County kicked short on the ensuing kickoff and Reed Curlis recovered the kick giving Lincoln County the ball at the Russell County 49-yard line. On the first play after that, Tucker Foster ran 29 yards to the 20-yard line. Then, Damon Spigle ran for 4 yards to the 16-yard line, followed by Foster with a three-yard run to the 13-yard line and then Foster a two-yard run to the 11-yard line, where it was 4th down and one to go.
After a time out, the Patriots ran an outside quarterback keep and Tucker Foster fought for a first down at the 9-yard line. On first-and-goal, Foster kept it to the right side and scampered in for a 9-yard touchdown run with 4:38 left in the 3rd quarter. Brody Baker added his third kick of the night and Lincoln County led 21-6.
After the deep kickoff, it took Russell County moved the ball with the help of some penalties on Lincoln County. It looked like Tanner Stringer scored on a 13-yard run but that was wiped out by a penalty. The holding call pushed them back to the 19-yard line. Stringer had a good run on the next play but it was also called back. After the two penalties, the line of scrimmage was pushed back to the 28-yard line.
From there, Stringer scrambled 25-yards to the 3-yard line and then a facemask penalty moved it half the distance to inside the 2-yard line. The defense made two big stops, leaving Russell County with a fourth-down-and-goal at the 4-yard line. On the next play, Tanner Stringer rolled right and kept into the end zone with 11:53 left in the 3rd quarter. The two-point PAT run failed, and Lincoln County led 21-12.
On the ensuing kickoff, Brycen Mullins had a 46-yard return to the Russell County 38-yard line. On first down, Spigle ran it six yards to the 32-yard line, then Foster ran 14 yards to the 18-yard line, followed by a 14-yard run by Spigle to the 4-yard line. Then, Reed Curlis ran two yards to the two-yard line. From there, Reed Curlis ran it in on a 2-yard run with 9:10 left in the game. Brody Baked added his 4th kick of the night and Lincoln County led 28-12.
On their next series, Russell County got out to their 41-yard line where they gave it up on downs, and the Patriots took over with 7:23 to go in the game.
On first down, Damon Spigle ran for 8 yards, followed by a two-yard run that was just short of the first down. Then, Tucker Foster got eight yards for a first down at the Russell County 24-yard line. Spigle ran to the 21-yard line, followed by a 13-yard run to the 8-yard line. Spigle then ran to the 6-yard line. On the next play, Tucker Foster kept it for a 6-yard touchdown run with 2:56 left in the game. Brody Baker kicked the PAT and Lincoln County increased its lead to 35-12.
On their last series, Russell County was airing it out when Drake Willoughby intercepted the Russell County pass and was face masked on the tackle. The penalty was tacked on and Lincoln County picked up a first down and kept the ball for the rest of the game.
