LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – Lincoln's defense forced six turnovers on Homecoming against Virginia Union University, but the Panthers scored 50 points in the second half to pull ahead and down LU, 66-27 on Saturday, October 10
th in LU Stadium.
Virginia Union took the opening kickoff and returned it for a 93-yard touchdown taking an early 7-0 advantage. Lincoln had a difficult time on offense in the beginning moments against the Panthers defense. VUU held the Lions to only two offensive yards in the first quarter and no first downs. Lincoln's offense was forced to punt three times in the opening quarter and at the beginning of the second quarter Lincoln's offense was stopped in their own end zone and VUU was awarded a safety (9-0).
LU's defense finally made a play on the next drive as freshman
Solomon Bassett (Forth Worth, TX/Boswell HS) forced and recovered a fumble with 12:30 on the clock. Despite the turnover the Panthers held the LU offense and forced a fourth consecutive punt. On VUU's next drive they turned the ball over for a second time. Senior
Brion Robinson (Silver Spring, MD/Springbrook HS) forced the fumble and junior
Stephen Lloyd (Bowie, MD/Meade HS) recovered the ball for the Lions.
At the 6:20 mark in the second quarter VUU's Shawheem Dowdy completed a 13-yard pass for a touchdown and extended their lead to 16-0. Lincoln took over and was unable to pick up any first downs putting their defense back on the field. Dowdy and the Panthers offense turned the ball over for the third time in the quarter as sophomore
Tony Jones, Jr. (Baltimore, MD/Victor Valley College) recorded a sack and a forced fumble that was picked up by
Solomon Bassett (Forth Worth, TX/Boswell HS) and returned for an 11-yard touchdown. LU trailed 16-6 after the point-after-kick was missed.
The turnovers continued for the Panthers offense on the ensuing drive as sophomore
Kevin Norris (Philadelphia, PA/Germantown HS) recorded an interception and returned the pick for a 30-yard touchdown. Norris put the Lions on the board again after a slow start with his amazing play with 3:59 remaining in the half. With the score reading 16-13 with just under four minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Panthers put together an 11 play 47 yard drive that was suddenly ended with their fifth turnover. Once again the LU defense led by junior
Wadel Louis (Miami, FL/North Miami Beach HS) and sophomore
Stephanos Ghebrehiwet (Miami, FL/North Miami Beach HS) came away with the football. Louis sacked the VUU quarterback and Ghebrehiwet recovered the fumble with three seconds left in an exciting second quarter. At the half Lincoln trailed Virginia Union 16-13.
Lincoln kept the momentum going in the beginning of the third quarter. Junior
Stephen Scott (Baltimore, MD/Bethel College) exploded for a 65-yard rushing touchdown on the first play from scrimmage giving the Lions a 20-16 lead. That was the first and last huge play from the Lions offense against the Panthers defense. Virginia Union responded with 30 unanswered points in the third quarter alone.
VUU scored four touchdowns and made a 25-yard field goal to spring ahead 46-20 by the beginning of the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter the Panthers added on three more touchdowns making the score 66-20 with 8:23 left in regulation.
The LU defense had one last shining moment as sophomore
Courtney Wright (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Coral Glades HS) recovered and returned a fumble for a 53-yard touchdown with 2:18 left in the game. Junior quarterback
Khari Ngozi (Philadephia, PA/Glasgow HS) found senior
Brandon Rowe (Harlem, NY/Hudson Valley CC) for a 24-yard pass completion while sophomore
Rashad Outlaw (Ewing, NJ/Ewing HS) broke out an 11-yard rush in the closing moments. The Panthers offense had six turnovers but finished with 534 total yards on offense against the Lions. Lincoln falls to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in CIAA play after their 66-27 loss on Homecoming to Virginia Union.
Running back
Stephen Scott (Baltimore, MD/Bethel College) finished with 73 rushing yards on 20 carries. Scott scored one touchdown on his 65 yard rush in the beginning of the second half. Backup quarterback
Jacob Luke (Starke, FL/Bradford HS) finished 3-of-5 for 12 yards. Luke found
Larquise Hobbs (Lansing, MI/J.W. Sexton HS) twice for eight yards and Scott once for four yards.
Tony Jones, Jr. (Baltimore, MD/Victor Valley College) had a team-high nine tackles including eight solo stops. He had two pass breakups, one sack, a forced fumble, and two tackles for a loss of yardage.
Stephen Lloyd (Bowie, MD/Meade HS) added eight tackles with seven solo stops.
Wadel Louis (Miami, FL/North Miami Beach HS) also had eight tackles and a sack while both
Brion Robinson (Silver Spring, MD/Springbrook HS) and
D'Andre Parker (Williamsburg, VA/Lackawanna College) finished with six tackles each.
Solomon Bassett (Forth Worth, TX/Boswell HS) had a breakout game with two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, and three tackles.
