By Jonathan L. Smith
The “bowling” is over. Lincoln County started its season with a bang, not only playing on two big bowl game stages but winning both of those games.
Lincoln won the season-opening PBK Bank/WPBK-FM Death Valley Bowl by beating Madison Southern 28-7. Then, last week, Lincoln made the short drive to Garrard County’s new school and beat Estill County 42-14 in the Golden Lion Bowl.
The non-district regular season schedule continues this week when the Patriots go to Nicholasville to play West Jessamine. They will make a similar trip in two weeks to play East Jessamine County. A home game with Danville is sandwiched between the two.
West Jessamine is the physical school building that used to be Jessamine County High School before the county built East Jessamine in 1997. The Patriots have only played the Colts three previous times since the school became West Jessamine, winning two and losing one. Lincoln won in 2001 and 2019 but lost in 2002.
The Series:
| Season | Lincoln Coach | Opposing Coach | Result | LC | Opp | Site |
| 2001 | Estes | Wes Johnson | W | 14 | 7 | H |
| 2002 | Lucas | Wes Johnson | L | 0 | 50 | A |
| 2019 | Crutchfield | Scott Marsh | W | 42 | 15 | A |
| 56 | 72 | |||||
| Total Games | 3 | |||||
| Record | 2-1 | |||||
| Points per Game | 18.67 | 24.00 |
However, Jessamine County High School was a regular opponent on Lincoln’s schedule prior to the school’s split, playing for 17 straight seasons between 1974 and 1990 (15 of the games were district games). In fact, Jessamine County was the opponent that LCHS played in its very first game in school history in 1974. In the series with the old Jessamine County, Lincoln leads 10 games to 7.
There have been generations of schoolboys from the two counties competing against each other in football for over one hundred years. The Nicholasville Tarantulas and the Stanford Wildcats, the football ancestors of West Jessamine and Lincoln County, respectively, played each other in football as early as 1904 (the “Spiders” won that one 12-0).
2025 Matchup
West Jessamine is coached by sixth-year head coach Scott Marsh. They finished with a 3-8 record in 2024 and suffered a first-round 5A playoff loss to Pulaski County 35-0. They play in four-team 5A District 7 along with East Jessamine, Madison Southern, and Montgomery County.
They have a 1-1 record on the young season, losing a tight one to Bourbon County (30-28) in Paris and defeating Wayne County (37-20) in Monticello. They will host Lincoln County in their 2025 home opener.
In the Bourbon County loss, they threw for 142 yards, while rushing for 93 yards. Against Wayne County, they threw the ball 38 times for 334 yards, while rushing only 14 times for 56 yards.
For the season, they are heavily skewed in the passing game, which accounts for 76% of their yardage (476 yards passing vs 149 yards rushing).
Senior quarterback Cooper Swaim has completed 37 of 57 attempts for 476 yards, 6 touchdowns and three interceptions. He is averaging 238 passing yards per game. His top receivers are Nash Bird (180 yards), Drew Hardin (149 yards), and Cooper Wiley (130 yards).
When they run the ball, senior Bragdon Welch is the top rusher with 80 yards and one touchdown on twenty-three attempts. Their freshman placekicker, Easton Erhardt, has been perfect this season. He is 8 of 8 on PAT kicks and 3 of 3 on field goals.
Defensively, they are opportunistic. They have picked off four passes, two by Zachary Pinkston, and have recovered a fumble.
Lincoln County’s offense is just the opposite, averaging 46 rushes to just 20 passes per game. Through two games, Lincoln’s running game has accounted for 75% of its offense (531 rushing yards vs 179 passing yards). However, when a team can hold on to the ball and move it forward, there is less incentive to pass.
“When you throw the ball, only three things can happen and two of them are bad.” ~ former Lincoln head coach Larry Phillips (attributed originally to Ohio State coach Woody Hayes.
Lincoln County’s junior quarterback Tucker Foster has completed 21 of 40 attempts this season with one touchdown and one interception. The interception was a 50/50 ball thrown at the end of the first half in the season opener and was not the type of interception that comes from poor judgment or a bad pass. He just has not been called on to pass that much this season and is as good at passing the ball as he is at rushing it (23 carries for 106 yards and four touchdowns).
In the ground attack, Damon Spigle is averaging 120 yards per game, while Kash Smith, Reed Curlis, and Brycen Mullins have all carried the ball effectively from the running back position.
The receiving corps of Bob Floyd, Johnny Adkins, Clay Pendygraft, and Brennin Hazlett are all smart and talented route runners. Floyd leads the group with 7 catches for 85 yards and one touchdown.
Lincoln’s defense has been solid this year with linebackers Reed Curlis and Tucker Julian leading the tacklers to the ball. Bob Floyd, Drake Willoughby, and Tucker Julian all have interceptions. Justin Mounce and Reed Curlis have defensive fumble recoveries.
This game will be an interesting contrast of styles. I like Lincoln to win this game because I think they can throw the ball if the run gets stopped. Conversely, I am not sure West Jessamine can run the ball on the Patriot’s defense if Lincoln stops their passing attack.
Kickoff is at 7:30 PM on Friday night at West Jessamine.
GPS Address: 2101 Wilmore Road, Nicholasville, KY 40356
