WEST GROVE, Pa. — Daron Jones (Baltimore, Md./Cardinal Gibbons HS) scored on a 60-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter and the Lincoln University football team held off Virginia Union, 19-10, Saturday night at Avon Grove High School.

“I was always taught never stop until its over,” Jones, who had his second interception return for a touchdown this season, said. “I would love to get a pick six every week. We feel like the defense is the backbone of the team and that we are rounding back into being a national ranked defense.”

The Lions (1-2 overall, 1-1 CIAA) opened the scoring at the end of the first quarter by capitalizing on an interception as Xavier Freeman (Linden, N.J./Linden HS) picked off Panthers quarterback Cheston Hickman at the Virginia Union 35 yard-line.

Lincoln, which used a hurry-up offense for most of the game, drove to the 4, but settled for a Kyle Jaski (Escondido, Calif./Kenwood HS) 21-yard field goal as the first quarter came to an end to give the Lions a 3-0 lead.

Laquan Williams (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram HS), starting at quarterback in replace of Doug Cook (Dania Beach, FL/University School of Nova SE University), balanced the offense in the second quarter, leading the Lions on a 5-play, 53 yard drive as he connected with Matthew Coston (Queens, N.Y./Dover HS) for a 22-yard touchdown to give Lincoln a 10-0 lead with 6:13 remaining in the second quarter.

The Lions put together a 10-play, 66-yard drive at the end of third quarter and start of the fourth as Jaski booted his second 21-yard field goal of the night to extend the advantage to 13-0 with 14:20 remaining.

Jones' interception with 12:30 left gave Lincoln a commanding, 19-0, lead as the extra point was blocked.

The Panthers (2-2, 0-1) answered the Lions' score as Richard Rodwell found the endzone on a 3-yard run. On the 2-point conversion, Brucelee Sterile (Miami, Fla./North Miami Beach HS) came up with a big tackle keeping Virginia Union at bay with Lincoln leading 19-6.

But after forcing a defensive stop, the Panthers blocked a Jaski punt out of the endzone for a safety, trimming the deficit to 19-8 with six minutes left. After stopping Virginia Union on fourth down at the Lincoln 10, the Lions took over but were unable to move the football.

Jaski had the ball knocked loose on the punt and the ball bounced out of the endzone for a safety as the Panthers trailed 19-10 with 3:21 remaining.

The Lions defense went to work and forced three straight incomplete passes by Hickman to turn the ball over on downs with 2:50 left.

Lincoln, which last won a CIAA contest on Sept. 26, 2009 at Livingstone (10-0) and snapped a 13-game CIAA losing streak,  turned its offense over to Mason Colton (Red Oak, Ga./Westlake HS), who had rushes of nine, four and two yards, respectively and Williams sealed the win by taking a knee and giving the Lions its first CIAA victory in their last 13 games.

“Laquan did well and did what we wanted him to do,” Lions head coach O.J. Abanishe said. “We didn't want him to gamble and that's exactly what he didn't do. No turnovers will help you win games. If we didn't have any (turnovers) on the season, we would be 3-0. The Panthers out-numbered, out-sized us as a team, but as long as we put up the fight that we did, we will beat any team. Daron had a big play last week and followed it up with an even bigger play this week.”

Williams was 20-of-40 passing for 207 yards and one touchdown.

“It feels great to lead the team to the first win of the year,” Williams said. “Coach O.J. taught me a great lesson this week between a gambler and a risk taker. I just wanted to take that lesson and do my best for the seniors. Even with the fourth quarter miscues, I felt that as long as the defense did their job, we would also do what we needed to close them out.”

Coston led the Lincoln receivers with 130 yards on seven catches, while Philip Jean-Juste (Miami, Fla. /North Miami Beach HS) had six for 26 yards.

Defensively, Brandon McElwee (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester City Junior and Senior HS) led the Lions with 10.5 tackles, including a sack of 11 yards. Sterile finished with eight tackles and a sack. Tim Green (Fanwood, N.J./Scotch Plains-Fanwood HS), who was consistently in the backfield chasing Hickman, finished with four tackles, including 2.5 sacks.

Hickman threw for 157 yards on 9-of-32 passing with a pair of interceptions. Rodwell paced the ground game with 93 yards on 16 rushes and Raymond Mack had two catches for 41 yards.

The Lions hit the road for the final time before playing four straight home games to begin October as Lincoln travels to Saint Augustine's College for a 7:30 p.m., kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 24 at Durham County Stadium.