THE MATCHUP
Lincoln (0-2 overall, 0-1 CIAA) concluded its two-game, season-opening road trip with a 43-27 slugfest with Kentucky State at Alumni Field last Saturday.
The Lions racked up 313 total yards of offense, but again struggled to move the ball on the ground with 64 rushing yards on 19 carries.
Doug Cook (Dania Beach, FL/University School of Nova SE University) paced the offense with 202 passing yards on 16 of 33 attempts.
Gerald Swain (Burlington Township, N.J./Burlington Township HS) led Lincoln on the ground with eight carries for 47 yards. Defensively,
Tim Green (Fanwood, N.J./Scotch Plains-Fanwood HS) put together another solid game with a team-high eight total tackles, including four sacks.
Brandon McElwee (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester City Junior and Senior HS) had 7.5 tackles and
Daron Jones (Baltimore, Md./Cardinal Gibbons HS), who had a 39-yard interception return, finished with seven tackles.
Virginia Union's Quentis Clark tossed his first career touchdown pass, but the Panthers (2-1, 0-0) lost to Winston-Salem State last Saturday, 67-16. The loss halted the Panthers' season-winning streak at Hovey Field.
Clark connected with Raymond Mack from 11 yards out with 12:10 left for his first touchdown. Jerell Washington paced the running game for Virginia Union with 50 yards on 16 carries. Cheston Hickman was 7-of-21 for 88 yards in the air.
Last year, the Panthers won a 55-31 shootout with the Lions in Richmond, Va.
Lincoln jumped out to a 12-0 lead as Matt Coston scored on passes of 20 and 14 yards from
Laquan Williams (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram HS). However, Virginia Union scored three straight times to grab a 20-12 lead. A 2-yard scoring run by Williams cut the margin to 20-18 right before the half.
The two teams opened the second half by trading points before Virginia Union scored three straight times in between the end of third quarter and start of the fourth to extend the lead to 48-25 with 11:40 remaining.
A Dameion Butler interception return cut the deficit to 48-31 with 7:14 left, but that would be as close as Lincoln would get as the Panthers tacked on one more touchdown.
THE SERIES
Virginia Union leads the series, 26-9-2, including a 55-31 win last year in Richmond, Va.
LISTEN LIVE ON THE INTERNET
Kevin Scholla and Taji McCullough will have the call from Avon Grove High School. The Pre-Game show will begin approximately at 5:45 p.m. To listen to the game, tune in on the internet to
vuusports.com.
UP NEXT
The Lions hit the road for the final time before playing host to four straight games to begin the month of October. Lincoln travels for a 7:30 p.m., game on Saturday, Sept. 24 at Durham County Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., against Saint Augustine's College.
