Saturday's game looked promising for the young Lincoln University football squad through the first ten minutes of action against Alderson-Broaddus University as they held a lead for the first time this season.  However the Battlers ran off 41 unanswered points to hand the Lions their third straight defeat of 2017, 48-10 in Philippi, West Virginia.
 
Lincoln is now 0-3.  Alderson-Broaddus improves to 1-2. 
 
Lions Quarterback Vincent Espinoza (Madera, Calif./Madera (West Hills)) threw for 189 yards on 14 completions in 28 attempts, including one touchdown pass.  Backup QB Justin White (Ozone Park, N.Y./Grand Street) added 74 yards for a team total of 263.   Rameses Owens (Warrensville Hgts., Ohio/Shaker Heights Robert Morris)) rushed for 58 yards to lead the Lincoln running game while Elijah Smith (Elmont, N.Y./Sewanhaka (Monroe College)) led the receiving corps with six catches for 57 yards.  Andre Price (Rialto, Calif./Jurupa Hills (Chabot)) had 82 yards receiving on four catches and Carlos Croslin (Baltimore, Md./Frederick Douglass (Globe Tech) ) 73 on three caught passes including one touchdown.
 
Defensively, Rob Thomas led the team with 13 tackles.  Solomon Bassett (Fort Worth, Texas/Boswell) had three sacks and eight total tackles, four of them for losses.  Cole Williams (Laurel, Md./DeMatha Catholic) recorded his second interception of the season.
 
The Battlers totaled 379 yards rushing led by Jamil Collison-Cofie's 154 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.  Conor McWilliams threw for 173 yards.
 
The Battlers needed just 1:17 to put points on the board taking the opening kickoff and driving 65 yards for a touchdown, a 32-yard scamper by Collison-Cofie.  Lincoln however showed some resilience as they came right back and drove 65-yards for the game tying score, their first first quarter points of the season.  Espinoza connected with Croslin for a 33 yard touchdown pass and Cody Waddell (Elkton, Md./Northeast) added the extra point to tie the game at 7-7
 
The Lions defense went to work on the Battlers next possession as Bassett got his first sack of the game and forced a fumble which the Lions recovered at the Battlers 37 yard line.  Espinoza found Trey McCollum (Burlington, N.C./Western Alamance) and Smith for catches to six and 10 yards respectively and coupled with an AB penalty gave Lincoln a first-and-goal from the four yard line.  Another AB penalty moved the ball half the distance to the goal but the drive was halted when Espinoza took a nine yard loss on second down.  An incomplete pass followed before Waddell kicked a 27-yardfield goal to give Lincoln a 10-7 lead, their first lead at any point this season.  It was also the Lions first field goal of the season.
 
AB came back with two quick score in the final five minutes of the first quarter, taking a 21-10 lead as the quarter ended and starting their run of 41 unanswered points.  The Battlers added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to lead 35-10 at halftime.
 
Lincoln held the Battlers to just a field goal in the third quarter but was unable to add any points to their side of the scoreboard.  The Lions had an opportunity, in the waning minutes of the quarter as Price caught a 43 yard pass from Espinoza and two plays later Zion McFarland (Baltimore, Md./Parkville) added an eight yard catch to bring the Lions into the red zone on the AB 12-yard line.  Lincoln got as close as the three-yard line but the drive came to a halt when the Lions decided to go for the first down on fourth down and Espinoza was sacked, giving the Battlers the ball on downs.
 
The Battlers took full advantage following LU giving the ball back to AB on downs, running five straight plays on the ground to advance into Lincoln territory. The drive later stalled and the hosts had to settle for a field goal.
 
The Lions roared back and with Justin White (Ozone Park, N.Y./Grand Street) in at quarterback drove the all the way to the Battlers four yard line before AB's Nick Treloar picked off a White pass at the goal line, ending the drive  and leading to the final Battler touchdown.
 
The Lions will play a home game for the first time this season next Saturday as they host St. Augustine's University in their Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) opener.  Kickoff is at 5:00 p.m.