Leopards Historical Season Continues to State Title Game
The Lincoln Leopards (11-1) hosted the Sylvan-Lucas Mustangs (10-2) for the Substate Championship round in the 8-Man 1 Classification. After early back and forth, the Leopards would go on to win the game 48-28 and advance to the State Championship next Saturday.
The game started out quick for either team. Lincoln had a big play touchdown on their first drive of the game, with Ben Bell bringing it home from 51 yards out. The points after were no good, so the score was 6-0 with 11:19 left in the first quarter.
As both teams were setting up for kickoff after the Leopard score, the stadium lights went out, giving us a 15-20 minute delay. However, they got the lights back on and play resumed.
Sylvan-Lucas took advantage of the delay, as Zayne Maupin takes his first handoff of the night 50-yards for the touchdown. Their two-point conversion was good and the Mustangs took a 2-point lead over the Leopards 8-6 with 11:09 left in the first quarter.
Lincoln would then go on to put up three straight scores, with the defense forcing a turnover on downs on Sylvan-Lucas and recovering a fumble.
Ben Bell would put in his second rushing touchdown from 5-yards out, making the score 12-8. Then Jeremiah Miller would put in two rushing touchdowns of his own, the first from 1-yard away, and the second from 4-yards away. Only one of those two-point conversions were good, giving Lincoln the 26-8 lead with 11:55 left in the second quarter.
The Mustangs would respond with another score of their own, the last of the half, with Carter Johnson powering in the 1-yard score. Two-point conversion fell short, giving us the score of 26-14 with 6:36 left in the first half.
Lincoln would then put up two more scores before the half. Jeremiah Miller connected with his twin brother Xavier Miller for a 22-yard touchdown pass and catch to increase the Leopards lead. The two-point conversion was no good, and the score was 32-14 with 4:35 left in the half.
The Mustangs drove down deep into Lincoln territory, but after a huge sack and 4th down and long yardage, Carter Johnson would throw up a pass downfield that would be picked off and taken into the endzone by Ben Bell for a 72-yard pick-six. This gave Lincoln the 40-14 lead heading into the halftime break.
Sylvan-Lucas took the second half by storm, taking the first possession of the half 65-yards on 13 plays, as well as eating up 8 minutes and 43 seconds of game clock. Zayne Maupin punched in his second rushing touchdown from 1-yard away. The points after were good, making the score 40-22 with 3:17 left in the third quarter.
After the Mustangs wasted a whole bunch of time off the clock, Lincoln wasted no time getting in the endzone again. Jeremiah Miller would once again connect with his twin brother Xavier for a 62-yard touchdown pass and catch. Two-point conversion was good, giving Lincoln a 26-point lead 48-22.
Sylvan would put up one more touchdown, which would be Zayne Maupin's third of the night, this time from 4-yards away. This left the score 48-28 with 6:41 left in the game.
Lincoln's next drive would stall out with a turnover on downs, but so would the Mustangs'. This allowed the Leopards to run out the clock and run away with the win, 48-28.
Despite the loss, Zayne Maupin was incredible for the Mustangs, carrying the ball 38 times for 237 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. The Sylvan-Lucas Mustangs incredible season came to an end with a final record of 10-2.
The Lincoln Leopards had multiple standouts on the field. Ben Bell took over from the start, ending the game with a little bit of everything under his belt. He rushed the ball 17 times for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns, caught one pass for 13 yards, took an interception 72-yards to the house for the touchdown, and even completed a pass for 38-yards.
The Miller brothers were also outstanding, with Jeremiah Miller rushing 15 times for 103-yards and 2 TD as well as completing 4 of 9 passes for 103 yards and 2 touchdown passes. Xavier Miller caught 4 passes for 128 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns.
The Lincoln Leopards will move on to play in Greensberg next Saturday, November 29, taking on South Central (12-0) who has been ranked number one all season long. They will play the early game, with a kickoff of 11 am.
The Victoria Knights (12-0) also made the state championship game taking on Hanover (12-0), but their game will kickoff at 7 pm.
You can catch both games on KZRS 107.9 at 11 am and 7 pm, with the pregame shows starting 30 minutes before kickoff. Lucas Kenney and Mike Blanke will be on the call for those games.