Johnie Logue
Sports Reporter
The Lincoln Cardinals played their 13 athletes, most nursing injuries and fell victim to Windsor 40-20 at home on Friday night. Windsor came in with 22 players and, like Lincoln, they have a young team full of promising freshmen and sophomores.
Lincoln led 8-0 after one, thanks to QB Riley Sanders hitting a dart in Dawson Parrott for 22 yards for a TD. Seconds later, Sanders found Parrott again, who dodged would-be tacklers for the 2 point conversion at the 3:48 mark.
Windsor tied the game in the second quarter as freshman Rowan Cox scored from 22 yards out on the right side. Greyhounds QB Reece Heany found Carson Witherspoon for the 2 pointer.
The Windsor defense double teamed Parrott throughout the contest opening up opportunities for other receivers Brayden Benham, Chase Young and Cam Everhart.
In the second quarter, Parker Craig raced in from two yards out to give Windsor a 14-8 lead at the 4:31 mark. The PAT failed.
The Sandman threw a bomb to Young at the two and Everhart plowed his way in for the score.
With just two seconds left in the half, new QB junior Carter Miller took over for sophomore Heany and hit Jerrick Millington from 25 yards out for a controversial TD as both Millington and Young came down with the ball. The PAT failed.
Sanders threw one down field to end the half in what looked like pass interference but nothing was called. There was no home cooking by the refs on the night. It was 20-14 at the half.
At 9:17 of the second half, the Sandman found Everhart for a 25 yard TD. Everhart pulled away from two defenders and rambled into the end zone. The PAT from 25 yards out due to a personal foul failed. It was tied at 20-20.
From there it was pretty much all Windsor as they simply wore down Lincoln with a strong running game for the 40-20 final score.
About the fatigue, Lincoln coach Brad Drehle said, "We ran out of gas at the end. When you are playing both ways and on special teams, when you have to line up on every play, it is double tough."
He went on to say, "I am very proud of our boys. I saw some good things tonight. They were playing hard and competing. You hate to look for moral victories but when you are as young as we are, I think you have to. Our kids took a step forward in their competitiveness. We need to grow and improve. Because of injuries, we had some young men get their first start and overall they did a good job. This will help us build depth for the future.*
Asked about the upcoming game against a very good Adrian team on the road, Coach Drehle said, "They have one of the best running backs in Class 2. It will be a big challenge for us."
Everhart, who made some big plays on both sides of the ball, said, "Towards the end, I got tired. It is hard with just 13. We were better tonight than last week."
Larry Roberts, who was cleared to play at noon with his hand in a cast, made some big tackles, as did Ben Eckhoff and Elijah Smith among others.
As mentioned earlier, the receiving stats were spread out nicely. Parrott was 6 for 68, Young 4 for 63, Benham 4 for 43, and Everhart 2 for 42.
The Sandman was 15 for 31 for 218 passing and Parrott was 1 for 1 for 14 yards.
Rushing was a different story, as Sanders was 3 for a -22, Parrott 3 for 27, and Everhart was 3 for 2.
Lincoln added five new players from the student body this week who will be eligible soon,
Coach Drehle responded, "They will help us a lot in practice. Hopefully, by the end of the season, they will be ready."
Viewers can watch Lincoln games on the Lincoln Sports Network on the web with Lane Johnson at 7:00 PM this Friday.
