Northeast steam rolls Lincoln for bragging rights

Tagged under: District 12, Gameday Hub, News

Anthony Franklin | November 8, 2021

Sr. WR/DB Geo Fabian

The Northeast Vikings came into the D12 Public League 6A semi-final contest having only played 6 games, sporting a 3-3 record while their neighbors across Roosevelt Boulevard sported a perfect 8-0 record. On paper without knowing the level of competition both teams faced this season one would think Lincoln would be the team to dominate and win by double digits.

However for those who know how the PL works, there are 4 divisions based upon recent history and records. Northeast played in the top division as they are the reigning 6A PL champions, Lincoln is rebuilding their program and are in the next to bottom division thus Northeast held the bye in the quarterfinal round while Lincoln had to play George Washington on the road. An old nickname Lincoln held back in the 90’s and 00’s was ole Stinkin Lincoln because they were not too competitive but they’ve also always played in that top division with Northeast, Washington, Frankford.

This team is not those past bad teams, they’re athletic, have decent size on the lines and most of all a heart of a champion. Northeast would receive the opening kick and score to take an early lead. Lincoln refused to be bullied around, and countered with a TD reception by Tamaj Jenkins to tie it up and rather than go for an extra point they threw for a successful 2 point conversion to take an early 8-6 lead.

Unfortunately they would sustain multiple injuries on their defense and Northeast who had much more depth began to pull away using their balanced rushing/passing attack. The Vikings defense led by Ken Talley and Kion Wright who kept pressure on Lincoln’s QB most of the afternoon. Talley also got to display his athleticism running the ball a few times as well as blocking on the offensive line.

Defensive back Geovanny Fabian made his presence known for the Vikings hauling in a TD pass while also intercepting a pass and deflecting a few passes away before an ejection cost him the second half of the game. For Lincoln their rushing attack kept them in this game until the final quarter. They have a special RB in Jr. Tamaj Jenkins who finished the day just short of 100 yards and made the Vikings defense work to bring him down.

Lincoln has a Jr. QB Khani Knight who displayed great touch and poise in the pocket while throwing for a TD on the day. This game was for the taking for Lincoln to get an upset win however with crucial turnovers the Vikings expanded a 12-8 lead late in the 2nd quarter to a 20-8 and a Lincoln fumble was returned for the 26-8 halftime lead. Lincoln would receive the opening kick off and would march down field to score their final points of the day closing the gap to 26-16 before the Vikings would tack on it’s final 2 TDs to finish the game off.

I will say this Lincoln if they can retain their underclassmen will be a force in the upcoming seasons. They’re very athletic, their OL has size and move well and defensively they’re not afraid to mix it up in the trenches, even their secondary guys are scrappy. They came into this game feeling as though they could compete and for 2.5 quarters they went toe to toe with Northeast.

The Vikings at the end of the day had more talent, depth and big game experience and it showed ultimately. It’ll be interesting to see if Lincoln gets bumped up to the Liberty Division. The GW/Lincoln game that was played in week 1 was a rout for Lincoln, however due to an issue it was reversed and ruled a 1-0 forfeit win for George Washington.

Lincoln got revenge by winning last week in the 6A quarterfinals 12-6 so who knows how the league will determine which squad moves up to the Liberty Division. If Lincoln stays back in National another season they’ll run through that division so to be battle tested they’ll need good OOC games prior to divisional games.

Northeast will advance to meet Olney for the 6A Finals and the right to meet the winner of the CL 6A championship game between St. Joes Prep and La Salle.

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews