Fighting Irish are no match for Devils at 40-0
DeTRAVIS HEARST AND DANIEL McALISTER MAKE THE STOP BEHIND THE LINE The Devil Defense held Aquinas to just over 100 yards in last Friday's region game. The Lincoln County Red Devils shut out the Aquinas Fighting Irish Friday night at Buddy Bufford Stadium. The packed home side of the stadium hummed with excitement like a fine-tuned Harley-Davidson motorcycle. This was the first region game of the season, and Lincoln County was entering with a perfect record, having had only one touchdown scored against them all season. As the coin was tossed, it became official. Region play was beginning. Aquinas won the coin toss and chose to receive the ball.
The kickoff was caught at Aquinas' 17-yard line and carried 27 yards. After a five-yard encroachment penalty against Lincoln County, a handoff was stopped by the Devil's defensive team, or "brick wall" as an Aquinas spectator called it. After in incomplete pass attempt, Aquinas punted the ball to Alex Ellis. He caught the high-altitude low-distance punt on the Aquinas 45-yard line and made a 38-yard return to the 17. A well-executed pass to Carlous Hearst put the Devils on a first down with two yards to go for a touchdown. Quarterback Austin Goldman carried the ball across the goal line for the game's first touchdown. Junior Vance Tarver kicked the extra point, bringing the score to 7-0 favoring Lincoln County.
Josh Hollimon had the unusual opportunity to return a kickoff in the game against Aquinas. As the strains of the LCHS fight song echoed out, Tarver kicked the ball off to Aquinas. The ball was caught on the 9-yard line and carried to the 24-yard line. After several nogain plays, the ball was punted to the Devils. After a seven play drive, the ball was turned over to Aquinas on Lincoln County's 17-yard line. The ball was punted to Lincoln County two minutes later, after six plays with no gain for Aquinas. A pass intended for sophomore A.G. Middlebrooks, was intercepted by an Aquinas player and the quarter ended.
The second quarter began with Aquinas attempting a trick handoff and being stopped by a strong defensive line. A quarterback sack ended Aquinas' drive, turning the ball over on Lincoln County's 35- yard line. After several small-gain running plays, a 43-yard pass to Wilkes Goolsby at the Aquinas 37-yard line put the Red Devils in scoring range. Carlous Hearst scored the touchdown, bringing the game's score to 13-0. Vance Tarver missed the extra point kick, and then kicked off to the 20-yard line. The quarter ended eight minutes later with Lincoln County shutting out Aquinas in a half dominated by running plays.
DeCHANE WILLIS SIDESTEPS AN AQUINAS DEFENDER This 13-yard carry was worth six points to the Red Devils. After a halftime show featuring the music of The Temptations performed by the Lincoln County marching band, play continued. Josh Hollimon returned the kickoff to the 35 yard-line. Hearst carried the ball for 11 yards on the next play. Following that massive gain, he carried the ball 49 yards, putting the ball on the 2-yard line. Middlebrooks carried the ball in for the touchdown and Tarver made the extra point.
The next touchdown was made six minutes later, after several drives comprised of running plays by both sides. DeChane Willis carried in the touchdown after a pass from Goldman. Tarver scored the extra point and kicked off to Aquinas. The quarter ended with Lincoln County once again in position and within scoring range.
CARLOUS HEARST LEAVES A TACKLER FALLING BEHIND The Red Devils will host Monticello this Friday at 7:30 p.m. The fourth quarter saw little Red Devil possession, but also little Aquinas gain. A touchdown 12 seconds into the quarter, as well as a successful extra point kick, brought the score to 40-0, where it remained for the duration of the quarter. The GHSA has a rule in place where a team winning by more than 35-0 will cause the clock to run nonstop, except for timeouts. This "rout rule" was initiated, and the Red Devil "wall" held for the quarter, preventing any score by Aquinas, although they gained around 50 yards in the quarter.
Next week's game is against Monticello at Buddy Bufford Stadium. It begins at 7:30 p.m. Come out and support the Red Devils
