ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. – Delonte McNeill became the all-time Elizabeth City State leading rusher and finished the afternoon with 41 carries for 189 yards as the Vikings held off a furious late rally by Lincoln, 39-14, on Saturday in a CIAA Northern Division contest at Roebuck Stadium.
 
The Vikings (8-2 overall, 6-1 CIAA) received the ball to begin the game and marched 58 yards in nine plays as McNeill scored on a 5-yard run to give Elizabeth City State a 7-0 lead with 12:21 remaining in the opening quarter.
 
After a Lincoln drive stalled early in the second quarter, the Vikings went back to work as Elizabeth City State got the ball on the Lions' 40-yard line. McNeill got four yards on first down, then busted loose for a 36-yard score with 13:09 left in the first half to extend the advantage to 13-0 as the 2-point conversion failed.
 
The Vikings took a 13-0 lead into the break and added to the margin with a pair of third-quarter scores.
 
Elizabeth City State had a short field to work with as the Vikings started their drive at the Lincoln 49. ECSU went 49 yards in just six plays as Domonic Strand scored on a 1-yard run with 3:15 remaining in the period.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, Ivan Mitchell (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill Academy) returned the ball 16 yards, but Brynson Barnes forced a fumble and Delonte Johnson recovered the ball for the Vikings at the Lincoln 33. After a timeout by Elizabeth City State, Strand, who was 9-of-15 passing for 57 yards, connected with Anthony Faulcon for a 33-yard score to increase the advantage to 25-0 with 2:59 remaining in the third.
 
The Vikings, who controlled the clock by holding on to the ball for 38:45, put the game away in the fourth quarter as ECSU went 55 yards in 10 plays as Darius Wesson caught a 13-yard pass from Naron Jones to push the margin to 32-0 with 7:37 left.
 
Lincoln (2-8, 2-5) got on the scoreboard by going 74 yards in four plays as Doug Cook (Dania Beach, FL/University School of Nova SE University) connected with Matthew Coston (Queens, N.Y./Dover HS) for a 49-yard touchdown strike to cut the deficit to 32-7 with 6:12 remaining.
 
The Lions, who committed three turnovers, continued to play from behind in the final quarter as Lincoln stopped Elizabeth City State on downs and took over at the ECSU 15. Gerald Swain (Burlington Township, N.J./Burlington Township HS) picked up 12 yards on first down and Coston caught his second touchdown of the day, a three-yard strike from Cook, to cut the margin to 32-14 with 3:48 left.
 
However, that would be as close as the Lions would get as the Vikings marched 49 yards in nine plays, capped by a Lyonnell Cook 19-yard run, to give Elizabeth City State a 39-14 lead with just 56 seconds remaining.
 
Cook finished with 235 yards on 21-of-42 passing. Coston caught eight balls for 119 yards to lead all receivers.
 
Daron Jones (Baltimore, Md./Cardinal Gibbons HS) had a big game defensively for Lincoln. He finished with 19 total tackles, including 11 solo tackles. Brandon McElwee (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester City Junior and Senior HS) added 15 tackles, including 10 solos, and Jeff Edwards chipped in with 12 tackles. Wes Hansboro registered 10 tackles.
 
Beside McNeill's big afternoon, Kevin Swain added 83 yards on 14 carries as Elizabeth City State racked up 374 total yards of offense.
 
Desmond Williams, John Davis and Josh Brooks paced the Vikings defense with five tackles each. Orlando Barrow and Tyler Gill recorded four as ECSU moves on to meet Winston-Salem State next weekend in the CIAA Championship game.