Lincoln rolls in opening round of football playoffs - tops Livingston 49-15
The undefeated and now 11-0 Lincoln High Zebras proved why they are a No. 1 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section, Division IV playoffs, routing the Livingston Wolves at home 49-15 Friday night at Edward Alexander Gray Sports Complex in Lincoln. "I was excited for the season, but 11-0 is pretty amazing," said Lincoln head coach Ken Lowe of his team's stellar season. "It's great for the kids and great for the town, we just want to keep on going." The sound victory marks this Zebra team as the winningest in Lincoln history – as the undefeated team in 1975 lost in the first round of the playoffs. Lincoln’s only other playoff victory was in 2000. "We just want to win that championship," Lincoln senior running back Alex Cowden said. "That's all we have on our minds right now." After driving down the field on the first possession, the Zebras turned the ball over on downs after going for it on fourth and 13 at the Livingston 15. The Wolves drove down the field with an effective rushing combination of Charles Brown and Roberto Garcia, powering up the middle before Lincoln senior cornerback Bo Avery broke up a pass on third down. In turn it forced a 42-yard field goal attempt from Jesus Gonzalez that was blocked by a group of Zebras. There was no looking back from there as the Zebras scored 42 unanswered points. After the Zebras took over, they drove down the field to the Livingston 36. Senior running back Moses Stanley took it on a sweep for a touchdown, but the play was called back on a holding penalty to the Livingston 48. It took only two more plays for the Zebras to reach paydirt, as Cowden carried for 19 yards down the right side, and Stanley scored from 29 yards out on the same play that was called back to give the Zebras a 6-0 advantage with 5:33 left to play in the first quarter. "I think we play better at home because we have all our supporters here," Stanley said. "Every week we've got something to improve on, we watch film and find something to get better on." On Livingston's next possession, Bo Avery came through again, picking off Rudy Lopez' pass near midfield, and returning it past midfield. After a Tim Bevins and Stanley run, quarterback Alex Stewart found Stanley again in the flat for a 30-yard touchdown. Stewart found senior tight end JJ Castillo in the end zone to convert the two-point conversion and give the Zebras a 14-0 lead with 3:37 to play in the first quarter. "We knew if we got this game, we'd be the No. 1 team in school history," Castillo said. “We came out and got the job done. It feels great to be home, our community has our backs - that's a big push for us." It took only two plays on Lincoln's next possession for the Zebras to score. Cowden started with a 25-yard run up the gut, followed by a 40-yard scamper by Stanley - breaking six tackles before dragging the final Wolves defender into the end zone to put the Zebras up 21-0 with 1:20 to play in the quarter. With 7:23 left to go in the half, Lincoln drove down the field after a short Livingston punt. Stewart linked up with Castillo again in the flat, where he followed his blockers patiently down the sideline for a 21-yard touchdown to give the Zebras a 28-0 advantage. "Every week we come together as a team," Stewart said. "We play for each other, and now we're playing for the town of Lincoln." After forcing Livingston to turn it over on downs, on the ensuing snap - senior fullback Tim Bevins broke through the middle of the line for a 32-yard scamper to the house to put the Zebras on top 35-0 with 5:31 left to play in the half. With backup quarterback Christian Perkins in, the Zebras drove down the field again, this time scoring on a pass from Perkins to Stanley from 23 yards out, to increase the Zebra lead to 42-0 with 14 seconds to go in the half. "The kids have been practicing hard," Lowe said. "With how hard the (Pioneer Valley League) is on the road, it helped us prepare well for our first playoff game." After Lincoln fumbled to open up the half at their own 20, Livingston's Garcia scored from three yards out to put the Wolves on the board, trailing 42-8 after a two point conversion by Brown. After a three-and-out, Lincoln continued to push Livingston back until Dylan Croisant picked off Garcia and took it back five yards to the end zone, reaching for the goal line as he was tackled to increase the Zebra lead to 49-8. Cowden rushed seven times for 103 yards. Bevins carried seven times for 74 yards and Stanley rushed six times for 101 yards. The Zebras balanced rushing attack has been the key to their success all season. The Wolves scored once more on a 49-yard touchdown run by Brown with 1:38 to go in the contest to make the final 49-15 Lincoln. The Zebras will face Sonora at home at 7 p.m. next Friday in the second round of the playoffs. "We had some dips earlier in the season, now we're really starting to mesh," Lowe said. "We talk about getting better every week - that's our main focus, finding another level. Sonora has a great program, so we have another mountain to climb and we're going to do our best." "It's going to be about getting in, studying film and executing," Stewart said.
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Whey to go guys keep it up, Its a long road to the top so let's keep going and play 1 game at a time.
What no Whitney rematch? AHAA Keyon, I guess you can start talking about last years 2008 whityney team again becauSe you ain't got nothing to talk about this year! GO ZEEEEBS!
Now Now Farnor... Easy she's a good cat and pulls for us a PVL brother on the other blogs. She will be at our game vs Placer so she will be rooting for both teams, Right Key?
Good job on the win. Last night was a great day to be a Zebra. Make sure everyone spreads the word to all Zebs past and present to come out to our next game. As we woop up up on another type of Wildcat, they just wont be the Whitney kind.
CAUSE THIS IS LINCOLN....AHOOOO, AHHOOOO, AHHHHHHHHHH
Lincoln fans..go to kcra.com (high school playbook) and vote to be channel 3's game of the week next week against Sonora! GO ZEBRAS 11-0!!!!! AHOOOO, AHOOOO, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
AND if you have a video of the Zeb's post it..it will get us 5000 bonus points! As of right now were are in the lead!
I know diehard, its just that he,she or it has been sooooo boorish regarding LIncoln in the past, portraying us as undeserving and classless and how "classy and professional" whitney is, YEAH RIGHT, SO NOT TRUE! As if beating Placer or Whitney was somehow a fluke on our teams part. Funny, Ive said it before, the only reall people wh seem to have had a major problem with losing to Lincoln were the whitney people and some Placer fans. But thats behind us now, onward ZEEEBS! Hopefully that Placer rematch is in the cards.
Congrats Zebras! Looking forward to your meet with Sonora...hopefully they'll bring their band cuz it's a great one! This fan chose your venue over Placers because you have better parking.......better lighting.....a great snack bar......and BETTER VISITOR'S STANDS! This will be a great game!
WOW Lincoln did outstanding against that POWERHOUSE Livingston! What is that 8 man football? Play a real team ZEEBs. Oh uh good luck against Sonora (another juggernaut). The Great Carnac predicts (after opening hermetically sealed envelope) "your season will come to a dissapointing end, Dec. 4, on your home turf". Have a great winter Zeebs, and remember 11-1 aint bad.
So, Lincoln's only tough games(Placer & Whitney) were only won by a touchdown- Sonora just beat Whitney by 2 TDs....
Watch out for Sonora Zeebs, DON"T CHOKE!
Indian, are you an idiot? Lincoln didn't get to choose who they played in the first round, or any round, of the playoffs. Yes, they played a weaker playoff team in the first round, which is a reward for being the top seed. But that's okay, that whole concept may be a little bit complicated for you to understand. Take it slow, little guy.
Oh yeah, RichCrane, aren't you the same dude who said, "The Zebras will be exposed by Placer" a few weeks back? I'm pretty sure you were. You sure were right about that, weren't you. Oh, no, wait a minute, you weren't, you were wrong. Applying scores from one set of teams to another set of teams is pure idiocy. The matchups, the environment, what's going on in the heads of 16/17/18 year old kids, all change week to week. Again, maybe a little bit of advanced philosophy for someone like you-get together with Indian, and see if you can figure it out.
Whether Lincoln wins or loses to an excellent Sonora team, both of your comments register as nothing more than juvenile stupidity from bitter little men.
Zebrafan,WOW your right, that was immature of me, Happy Thanksgiving and congrats on a great season.
let's all play nice.everyone have a good thanksgiving.hope to meet the zebras on 12/4.GO HILLMEN!
Hey Zebra Fan! dont take things so personal, theres nothing wrong with a little competitive banter and from what I recall it is OK to have a personal opinion, THIS IS the United States of America. I simply was trying to have a little fun, but you obviously cant handle a little humor, and I definitely didnt attack you personally, And I assure you I am not little or bitter. The Zebras had a good team this year Castillo and # 77 are outstanding football players and I too was looking forward to the Big rematch. Sonora is on some kind of a run right now, and the Hillmen will have their hands full next friday. Placer is on a MISSION this year. I am glad that Lincoln and Placer have a good rivalry now it is something to look forward to next year. Nice work this year Zebras, nothing to be ashamed of.
farnorcalzeb- looks like its not in the cards.... and you're quite boorish yourself. BTW no headstroking here, just head patting the poor loser you. I do not put you in the same category as your team. YOU ARE CLASS LESS.
Mojo- As usual thanks, you've been great and sorry for your loss. The Zebs had a great season. 2009 PVL winners...Good luck next year in the PVL. Whit's gonna miss ya'.....NOT YOU FARNORCALZEB- you can go crawl back under that rock again and stop embarrassin' your team.
GOOOOO CATS!