Photos by MERCER HARRRIS WILKES GOOLSBY RACES FOR THE GOAL LINE AFTER A RECEPTION

The Red Devils traveled to Abbeville, South Carolina, last week to play against the Abbeville Panthers who were ranked number two in the state of South Carolina. The game ended in a loss, the first defeat the Red Devils have faced this season. The game was close, but our Red Devils could not stand up to the larger school's team.

Lincoln County won the coin toss and chose to kick off to the Panthers. Vance Tarver kicked the ball off to begin the game. The Red Devils stopped the return on the 20-yard line. Abbeville's next play gained them ten yards and a first down. A strong run and a facemask penalty soon put the ball on the 46-yard line, close to Devil territory. Jarren Brown was able to stop the next run, and actually put the ball back three yards. A few small-gain plays later, Abbeville turned control of the ball over to the Devils with a kick to the 21-yard line.

C.J. Jones had three receptions Firday night.

The next play, A.G. Middlebrooks made a strong gain. Following that, Wilkes Goolsby caught a pass on the 42-yard line. An incomplete pass slowed the Devils down a bit but the team continued toward the goal line. The team was playing a fast offense to keep the Panthers from having time to react to the plays our Devils were making, which may have kept the game as tough as it was for both teams.

The game continued in this fashion until there were three minutes left in the quarter, at which point the Panthers scored a touchdown on a 43-yard pass from within Red Devil territory. Their PAT kick was good, breaking this season's no-score history and making the score 7-0. The next drive, on the 25-yard line, the Devils retaliated. Middlebrooks received a handoff from Bo Reed and advanced the ball, breaking right. He was threatened by several Panthers approaching fast, and threw the ball to Wilkes Goolsby. Goolsby outsprinted the Panthers' defense and scored Lincoln County's first touchdown in the game.

GARRETT MATTHEWS STOPS A PANTHER IN HIS TRACKS

Abbeville's next drive of the half was not particularly successful. They made it to the 40-yard line, but failed to get a first down when they decided to gamble and go for the down instead of punting. The Devils' defensive line showed the Panthers the error in this strategy when they held the line and forced a turnover on downs. The Devils were able to make a strong drive, and set up for the second Lincoln County touchdown. Tavious McGahee received the ball and ran for the 20 yards to move up the Red Devils' score to 12-7. Middlebrooks made the two-point conversion and put the score at a falsely assuring 14-7.

COACH LARRY CAMPBELL WAS MORE THAN A LITTLE UPSET.

The Red Devils kept the Panthers from breaking the lead, with strong plays making it possible for the Red Devils to take control of the ball. The Devils used a strong strategy from past wins to make the next drive work. The Panthers had the ball stripped away on their own 30- yard line. The team chiseled their way past the larger Panthers until the possibility of a third touchdown became apparent on the Abbeville 5-yard line.

With only five yards to go for the goal following one of the game's numerous penalties, the chance for the Devils to score was great. But it was not meant to happen. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the Devils back fifteen yards. A second flag put the Devils scarily far back. Vance Tarver made a field goal kick from the 22-yard line, scoring the last three points the Devils gained all night, making the score 17-7. The Panthers averaged eight yards a play in the next drive, and made a 15-yard pass to score a touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in the half, leaving the score at 17-14.

The second half bogged down quickly. Middlebrooks made more impressive gains, but the team just could not make any offense. The Panthers controlled the ball for most of the half, but the entire Lincoln County defensive line held them down for a large portion of the half. Abbeville's players made use of this fatigue and made sixteen more plays in a drive to score a one-yard touchdown with less than eight minutes remaining. This, paired with a kick, made the score 21-17, with the Panthers in the lead.

This lead could have been beaten, but the next Red Devil drive was marred by fatigued players. The Devils didn't score, but were able to disable the Panthers early in the next Abbeville drive. A fumble put the Red Devils in a position to show how a comeback happens. This didn't happen, however, as the Devils lost control of the ball and the game in one play.

With 74 yards between the Panthers and the goal line, The Abbeville quarterback replicated Goolsby's early run and scored a 74-yard touchdown with four minutes remianing. The final score was 28-17.

Richard Nixon once said that facing defeat builds character. With that in mind, this game will build the character of the entire team and will hopefully lead to a victory against Commerce on Friday, September 26, at 7:30 p.m. here in Lincolnton at Buddy Bufford Stadium. Come out and support our home team in their game against the Tigers.

Devils vs. Abbeville
(statistics compiled by Johnny Walton)
	LC	A
First Downs	11	21
Yards Rushing	127	283
Yards Passing	150	63
Passes	9-15-3	3-6-0
Total Yards	277	346
Yards penalized	90	25
Fumbles/lost	2/1	3/2
Punts/avg.	3/35.7	3/37.3
Return yards	10	41
Score by quarters
Red Devils	6 11 0	0 - 17
Hephzibah	7 7 0	14 - 28

Region 7-A Standings
	Region	Overall
	Record	Record
Warren County	1-0	1-3
Aquinas	1-0	1-2
Lincoln County	0-0	3-1
Washington-Wilkes	0-0	2-2
Wilkinson County	0-0	2-2
Hancock Central	0-0	0-4
Georgia Military	0-1	2-2
Glascock County	0-1	2-2

Georgia's Top Ten
in Class A
(as determined in the GaSports.com/
GACA Coaches Poll)
Records shown are for current season.
1. ..Emanuel Co. Institute ....4-0
2. ...... Lincoln County ........ 3-1
3. ........Wilcox County ......... 4-0
4. ......Athens Academy ....... 3-0
5. ........Clinch County ..........3-1
6. ....... Twiggs County ......... 3-0
7. ............ Bowdon ..............3-0
8. .......... Brookstone ............4-0
9. .............Bremen ...............3-1
10.....Washington-Wilkes ......2-2