CHEYNEY, Pa. — The Lincoln University football team fell behind early in the second half and nearly rallied from a 15-point deficit, but the Lions dropped a heartbreaking, 21-19, decision to rival Cheyney in the annual Battle of the Firsts/Wade Wilson Classic on Saturday at O'Shields-Stevenson Stadium.

“We were not able to maintain our momentum throughout the whole game,” Lions head coach O.J. Abanishe said. “We had an up and down game. I thought Doug Cook (Dania Beach, FL/University School of Nova SE University) played very well as a freshman. He made some mistakes, as freshmen do, but we are very pleased with the performance he had today.”

The Wolves' first drive of the game ended in an interception as Brandon McElwee (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester City Junior and Senior HS) returned the tipped pass and returned it 30 yards to the Cheyney 25 yard line.

The Lions (0-1) got a big reception from Philip Jean-Juste (Miami, Fla. /North Miami Beach HS), who had a big afternoon with 13 catches for 146 yards, to advance the ball inside the Wolves' 5. However, Cheyney's defense stopped the Lincoln drive on fourth-and-goal from the 1, as the Lions turned the ball over on downs.

After a scoreless first quarter, Cheyney (1-0) snapped a five-quarter scoreless streak against the Lions, as Chris Anderson connected with Lonnell Wilson for a 33-yard touchdown to give the Wolves a 7-0 lead as Jewel Jones kicked the extra point with 14:37 left in the first half.

On Lincoln's next offensive possession, the Lions marched 75 yards in seven plays as Cook found Anthony Wilson (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington HS) for an 11-yard touchdown. The point after attempt failed as Lincoln trimmed the margin to 7-6 with 10:48 remaining in the second quarter.

The Lions had a chance to take the lead right before halftime, but Cook, who was 30 of 47 passing for 317 yards, was intercepted in the endzone as Cheyney took a slim 7-6 lead into the break.

Lincoln opened the second half with the football, but was forced to punt. A Kyle Jaski (Escondido, Calif./Kenwood HS) punt backed the Wolves up to their own 7. But Cheyney  went 93 yards in eight plays, capped by an Anderson 18-yard touchdown pass to Prince Stewart to extend the lead to 14-6 with 8:32 left in the third quarter.

After a punt ended the third, Fidel Cooper (Patterson, N.J./Patterson Catholic HS) fumbled the ball at the Lincoln 22 and the Wolves quickly took advantage as Marcus Jones, who finished the day with 15 carries for 96 yards, went 22 yards for the score to extend the lead to 21-6 with 14:44 remaining.

After the scoring strike by the Wolves, Lincoln responded in a big way with back-to-back touchdowns to cut the Cheyney advantage to 21-19.

The first scoring drive was 81 yards in seven plays as Jean-Juste caught a 12-yard pass from Cook as Jaski added the extra point to cut the defict to 21-13 with 12:56 remaining.

On the next offensive possession, the Lions went 59 yards in seven plays as Ivan Mitchell (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill Academy) tossed a 34-yard touchdown pass to Wilson with 9:36 left. Down by two, Lincoln went for the two-point conversion and Cook's pass in the endzone was initially caught by Wilson but the defender was able to poke the ball away for the incomplete pass.

Lincoln had one final chance for the potential game-winning score after a Cheyney punt pinned the Lions inside their own 1 with 3:59 remaining.

“Tyler Wilkinson had two good punts especially his last one in the fourth quarter that pinned us to the 1-yard line and in any league, that's hard to overcome,” Abanishe said.

With time running down, Cook scrambled to make something happen and lost control of the ball when Joe Winn forced a fumble with 14 seconds left, sealing the victory for the Wolves.

The Lions return to action 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 10 in Frankfurt, Ky., against Kentucky State.

 

NOTES: Lincoln is now 10-1-1 all-time in the series versus Cheyney. The victory was also the first for Wolves interim head coach Kenneth Lockard…Doug Cook (Dania Beach, FL/University School of Nova SE University) was making his first collegiate start for Lincoln…The Lions were 2-for-5 on fourth downs.

POST GAME QUOTES

O.J. Abanishe

“We chose to go for it in the first quarter because we have faith in our offensive line and also our fullback. We have seen them perform in practice and we know they are more than capable of punching it in.”

Doug Cook (Dania Beach, FL/University School of Nova SE University)

“At the start I was nervous I had to calm down but I thought I played well.”

“We need to be more consistant. It hurts because it is a rivalry but we have to forget about this game, have amnesia, stay strong and we will be fine.”