Box Score MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Lincoln University football team fell behind early, but the second-half rally fell short as the Lions dropped the season finale, 35-19, in a CIAA Northern Division contest on Saturday at Garrison Stadium.
 
The Lions (1-9 overall, 1-6 CIAA), which amassed 440 total yards, fell behind, 28-0, in the opening quarter as Elliot Smalls had a pair of touchdown runs of 15 and 64 yards, while Cameron Stover scored on a 1-yard run and Jermaine Wade had a 3-yard rushing score to give Chowan a 28-0 lead.
 
Lincoln trimmed the deficit to 28-7 as the Lions went 75 yards in eight plays as Doug Cook (Dania Beach, FL/University School of Nova SE University) connected with Philip Jean-Juste (Miami, Fla. /North Miami Beach HS) for a 38-yard touchdown with 14:52 remaining in the first half.
 
Stover's 6-yard touchdown pass to Antjuan Randall gave the Hawks (6-4, 5-2) a 35-7 advantage with 1:10 remaining in the third quarter.
 
The Lions tried to rally in the final quarter as Ivan Mitchell (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill Academy) caught a 77-yard pass from Cook with 9:33 remaining to close the margin to 35-13 and Kenny Johnson (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown HS) scooped up a fumble and went 25 yards for a score, cutting the deficit to 35-19 with 7:23 left.
 
That was as close as the Lions would get.
 
On its next offensive possession, Chowan, which had 515 total yards, including 317 on the ground, moved the ball to the Lincoln 43 and took more than four minutes off the clock. A Matt Lucas 41-yard punt pinned the Lions at their own 2 with 2:45 remaining.
 
Cook, who was 38-of-59 passing for 447 yards, was intercepted with 52 seconds left at the Hawks' 45 as Chowan ran out the clock to get the victory.
 
Matt Coston caught 13 passes for 127 yards. Mitchell and Jean-Juste finished with eight catches each for 95 and 65 yards, respectively. Gerald Swain (Burlington Township, N.J./Burlington Township HS) finished with 36 yards on 10 carries.
 
Tyahir Mitchell (Wilmington, DE/Howard HS) and Brion Robinson (Silver Spring, MD/Springbrook HS) combined for 21 tackles. Mitchell had 11 tackles, including eight solo stops, while Robinson added 10 tackles. Tim Green (Fanwood, N.J./Scotch Plains-Fanwood HS) finished with four tackles and had a sack.
 
Stover was 15-of-26 passing for 153 yards and Ryan Nolan had four receptions for 50 yards. Smalls finished with 200 yards on 24 carries. TJ Bachelor recorded 10 tackles, including seven solo stops, two quarterback hurries, one sack and one forced fumble. Anthon Joffrion added eight tackles.
 
Lions Notebook: Saturday's game marked the final contest for seniors: Maurice Bertrand (Yonkers, N.Y./Cherry Hill HS), Matthew Coston (Queens, N.Y./Dover HS), Bradley Davis (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram HS), Xavier Freeman (Linden, N.J./Linden HS), Garin Gardner (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill Academy), Timothy Green, Philip Jean-Juste (Miami, Fla. /North Miami Beach HS), Kenneth Johnson, Kester Lewis (Bowie, Md./Grady HS), Ivan Mitchell (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill Academy), Jethro Spikes (Sarasota, Fla./) and Gerald Swain (Burlington Township, N.J./Burlington Township HS)…Tim Green (Fanwood, N.J./Scotch Plains-Fanwood HS) came into the game second in NCAA Division II in tackles for loss with 20.5…Doug Cook (Dania Beach, FL/University School of Nova SE University) threw for 2,698 yards and 15 touchdowns…Cook threw for over 300 yards in four games…With the loss, Lincoln fell to 1-2 All-Time versus Chowan.