CAMBRIDGE CITY, Ind. – Lincoln opened its football season on Friday night against Whitko.
“Our kids played hard the whole game,” Golden Eagles Head Coach Phil Renforth said. “We just could not match their speed. We just have to be as solid as we can. I want to see some improvement each week.”
The end result was a 32-6 loss for the Golden Eagles.
“Early we moved the ball OK in the middle of the second quarter we didn’t move the ball very well,” Renforth said. “Part of that was them and part of that was us.”
“But not having Chase Hokey hurt us,” Renforth added about his defensive stalwart, who suffered a broken thumb last week. “He’s been our leading defensive point scorer the last two seasons.”
“I thought a lot of times tonight we put our defense in the right position, we just didn’t make plays,” he continued. “That’s something we can correct in practice. Sometimes we read things correctly, we just weren’t fast enough to get them.”
Lincoln’s touchdown came in the second period when Nick Cupp found Chase Southerland on a 6-yard scoring pass.
Cupp completed 7-of-22 passes for 139 yards and also rushed for 31 yards.
Matt Fields led the Golden Eagles offense with 41 yards on the ground, while catching three passes for 50 yards.
Southerland had two grabs for 21 yards with Blaine Cowan catching one for 50 yards and Jeremiah Holder one for 18.
Defensively, Lincoln did force three turnovers as Shawn Suttles, Owen Rhea and Caleb Craig each recovered a fumble.
For Whitko, Garrett Elder rushed for 175 yards and four scores. Robby Owsley finished with 114 yards and a touchdown.
Lincoln (0-1) returns to action next Friday at home against Wes-Del. Wes-Del defeated Alexandria 14-0 in its home opener on Friday.