Final from Nicholasville
Lincoln County 40
East Jessamine 37
Summary
Lincoln County starts the season 5-0 for the first time since 1988, after they built a comfortable second half lead but had to hold on against an East Jessamine onslaught to finish with the three-point win.
The InterCounty Energy Lineman of the Game is Matthew Sneed (#65 in the post game interview with WPBK-FM’s Dustin Oney).
The Guardian Exterminating and B-Green Lawn Care Player of the Game is Reed Curlis (228 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns).
The Lincoln County Daily News dot com play of the game was Tucker Foster’s gutsy scramble to pick up a first down and secure the win on the final drive.
Brody Baker tied the school record for field goals kicked in a single game (2), joining Boone Baird in the record book. Boone did it twice, and both times were against Garrard County (2012 and 2013). Brody connected on kicks of 31 and 30 yards. Both were important as they kept the Lincoln County lead at a two-score differential, and the final score ended up being a three points (field goal) difference.
After the game, coach Levi Rogers said, “We have to stay focused, keep getting better at football because the teams we’re playing are going to keep getting better. Franklin County is ranked either number one or number 2 in 4A coming in next week and we play two of the best 4A teams in the next few weeks.”
Series-by-Series Report
East Jessamine won the coin toss and deferred to second half. Lincoln County took the opening kickoff at the East Jessamine 45-yard line after a squib kick and Reed Curlis twenty-yard return. The Patriots covered the forty-five yards in 8 plays with passes of eight yards to Bob Floyd and eleven yards to Reed Curlis. Reed Curlis also carried the ball four times for seventeen yards.
Tucker Foster capped the drive with a one-yard run with 9:36 left in the first quarter. Brody Baker hit the PAT kick, but a penalty nullified the kick and the try from five yards farther away missed the uprights and Lincoln County led 6-0.
East Jessamine returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 30-yard line and completed a seventeen-yard pass on the first play after that getting it to the 47-yard line. Then, they had an incomplete pass before connecting on a 53-yard touchdown pass that was called back for a holding call. Lincoln County ended up getting the ball back on a fourth down stand at their own 32-yard line.
The Patriots had a short run on first down and then a 43-yard pass from Foster to Clay Pendygraft got the ball to twenty-three-yard line. From there, Reed Curlis ran to the nine-yard line and then finished the four-play drive with a nine-yard scoring run with 4:24 left in the 1st quarter. Brody Baker added the kick and Lincoln County lead grew to 13-0.
East Jessamine came right back and quickly moved into Lincoln County territory, scoring twenty-yard pass from Bryce Bentley to Jacob Wright with 1:10 left in the first quarter. The PAT failed and Lincoln County led 13-6.
The Patriots started their next drive at their own 46-yard line after recovering and attempted onside kick. Three straight runs by Reed Curlis got the Patriots to the East Jessamine 34-yard line. An incomplete pass and a short run left the Patriots with a fourth-and-one but converted with a Tucker Foster keeper to the thirty-one-yard line. Then a twenty-five-yard pass to Bob Floyd got Lincoln County to the six-yard-line. From there, Lincoln went backward, getting pushed back to the 14-yard line.
On fourth down, Lincoln County opted for a 31-yard field goal that was successful by Brody Baker with 7:35 left in the first half and Lincoln County led 16-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, Brady Cummins returned it 90 yards for the touchdown with 7:21 left in the first half. Luis Diaz Morales kicked the PAT, and the Lincoln County lead was cut to 16-13.
Lincoln County started their next drive at their own thirty-nine-yard line. Reed Curlis carried the ball three straight times getting the ball to the four-yard-line. From there, Drake Willoughby crashed in for the touchdown with 4:50 left in the first half. Brody Baker kicked the PAT and Lincoln County’s lead grew back to ten points at 23-13.
After a Lincoln County squib kick, East Jessamine started from their own 39-yard-line. Aided by a pass interference penalty, the Jaguars got into Lincoln County territory at the 43-yard-line and then moved it to the twenty-yard-line where they bogged down. On 4th down, East Jessamine converted a 36-yard field goal by Luis Diaz Morales with 21-seconds left in the half and the Lincoln County lead was cut to 23-16.
Despite there being only 21 seconds left in the half, Lincoln County was not done scoring. Brennin Hazlett returned the squib kick to midfield, then Tucker Foster connected with Bob Floyd on a 26-yard pass to the East Jessamine 24-yard-line. A penalty on the Jaguars sideline moved the ball to the 11-yard-line.
From there, Brody Baker kicked his second field goal of the game, connecting from 30 yards out with two seconds left in the half and Lincoln County extended the lead back to ten points at 26-16. The Patriots squibbed the kick, and time ran out as an East Jessamine player bobbled the ball and fell on it.
East Jessamine received the second half kickoff and started on their own 33-yard-line. They bogged down at their own 45-yard line and turned it over on downs. Reed Curlis ran the ball twice on the two-play drive, the first for 34 yards and the second one for 11 yards to the end zone with 9:04 left in the 3rd quarter. Brody Baker added the kick and Lincoln County led 33-16.
On the ensuing kickoff, East Jessamine had a big return to the Lincoln County 29-yard-line. They got it down to the 10-yard-line, but Lincoln’s defense stiffened up on an attempted quarterback keeper on 4th and short resulting in a loss of downs for East Jessamine.
After the stop, Lincoln County started from their own 9-yard-line but could not move the ball. They punted from their own 11-yard-line, with Tucker Foster getting off a 38-yard punt with no return and East Jessamine started from the Lincoln County 49-yard-line. Five plays later, they scored on a 4-yard run by Jacob Wright with 2:21 left in the 3rd quarter. On the two-point conversion, Bryce Bentley passed to Brady Cummins for the two points and Lincoln County’s lead was cut to eleven points at 33-24.
A big return on the kickoff by Brycen Mullins set Lincoln County up at their own 46-yard-line. Reed Curlis carried the ball seven times in the eight-play drive, with Drake Willoughby carrying the ball once. Reed Curlis scored from 3-yards out with 7:53 left in the game. Baker kicked the PAT and Lincoln County led 40-24.
East Jessamine played inspired football to score twice late in the 4th quarter to cut the lead to 40-37. Lincoln County got the ball back after a failed onside kick with 2:40 remaining in the game. The Patriots got behind the chains with a penalty and faced at 2nd down and 16 yards to go. They got 7 yards back with Reed Curlis and then Tucker Foster scrambled for the first down and the Patriots finished the game in the victory formation
Lincoln County will be back at home next week against Franklin County. East Jessamine will be at home against Lafayette.
Scoring
LC 1Q 9:36 Tucker Foster, 1-yard run, kick failed (LC 6-0)
LC 1Q 4:24 Reed Curlis, 9-yard run, Brody Baker kick (LC 13-0)
EJ 1Q 1:10 Jacob Wright, 20-yard pass from Bryce Bentley, kick failed (LC 13-6)
LC 2Q 7:35 Brody Baker, 31-yard field goal (LC 16-6)
EJ 2Q 7:21 Brady Cummins, 90-yard kickoff return, Luis Diaz Morales kick (LC 16-13)
LC 2Q 4:50 Drake Willoughby, 4-yard run, Baker kick (LC 23-13)
EJ 2Q 0:21 Luis Diaz Morales, 36-yard field goal (LC 23-16)
LC 2Q 0:02 Brody Baker, 30-yard field goal (LC 26-16)
LC 3Q 9:04 Reed Curlis, 11-yard run, Baker kick (LC 33-16)
EJ 3Q 2:01 Jacob Wright 4-yard run, 2-pt pass Bentley to Cumins (LC 33-24)
LC 4Q 7:53 Reed Curlis 3-yard run, Baker kick (LC 40-24)
EJ 4Q 5:34 Michel Carter 2-yard run, 2-pt pass failed (LC 40-30)
EJ 4Q 2:41 Jacob Wright 15-yard run, Morales kick (LC 40-37)
