(Lincoln Heights/Los Angeles North Broadway Corridor)—Before a “Live Streamed” local, regional, and national audience on the NFHS Network as well as a big, highly supportive home crowd, the Lincoln Tigers clawed their way to a huge quarterfinal Division III playoff win over the L.A. Jordan Bulldogs, who came into Northeast L.A. from South L.A. riding a six game winning streak. The final score was (50-21), with the Tigers outperforming their opponents in most phases of the game. The Bulldogs, underdogs due in part, to their #11 seed versus the Tigers #3 seed, were also outmanned as they entered the game with only a (20) man roster compared to the Tigers’ (35) man roster.
Eventhough they were short on manpower, the Bulldogs did not lack the will power and determined grit as they did battle for the right to move on in the playoffs. Hats off to first year Head Coach, Derek Benton for doing an outstanding job in winning the L.A. City Section’s Metro League title and then taking his team into the quarterfinal as an #11 seed, and winning six out of their seven games.
Game Summary: (1st Half)— The Tigers were first up on the scoreboard at the 9:11 minute mark when their workhorse and gifted #22/RB/SO/Andre Watkins drove it in from the 1. The 2 point conversion failed. That was followed by a TD, with just :01 second left in the period, when Watkins punched it in again, this time from the 2, for a (12-0) lead. The 2 point conversion was good, for a (14-0) advantage. The Tigers’ third score came on a “razzle-dazzle” play when #12/Andrew Perez took the snap out of the “Wildcat” formation and found his QB/Ivan Plancarte, who had lined up at the WR spot, and connected with him for a 35 yard scoring pass that came at the 4:45 mark. The fourth TD of the half came at the :30 second mark when #7/QB/Ivan Plancarte targeted #2/RB/Nate Hidalgo for a 5 yard TD pass. On the other hand, the Bulldogs put up two scores by their ATH/#3/Perrion Pemberton when he rushed for TDs from 4 and 8 yards out respectively. The half-time score was (29-14), in favor of Lincoln.
(2nd Half)—The Bulldogs scored their final TD of the game at the 8:14 mark when #7/QB/David Chavez found #11/WR/Jaylen Smith on a “quick strike” deep passing route for a 40 yard TD hook-up. The PAT was unsuccessful. Score was now, (29-20). At the 6:45 mark, the Tigers scored their first TD of the half when#12/WR/Andrew Perez took it in from the 13 yard line for the score, moving it up to (35-20), the 2 point conversion was good by Watkins, for a score of (37-20) Tigers. That was followed by a short TD pass from Plancarte to #3/WR/FR/Jaden Rattay for the Tigers’ 5th TD of the game. The PAT was good by Placekicker, #9/SO/Michael Chihuahua, making it now (44-20). Their final score of the game was recorded when #21/RB/FR/Jacob Orozco swept in on a student-body right play from 9 yards out and again Chihuahua hit the PAT, for the final score of (51-20).
