Tyler Cummings caught the opening kickoff, saw a seam he liked and bolted down the middle of the field before he was grabbed by his facemask near midfield.
It was just a sign of things to come for the senior tailback. He put Lincoln on the scoreboard less than a minute later with a 15-yard touchdown run and the Wolves rolled from there to a 28-0 victory over Gentry during 4A-1 Conference action Friday night at a rainy Wolfpack Stadium.
“I told him before the game that big-time players have to make big-time plays in big-time games,” Lincoln coach Brad Harris said. “He responded for us.
“He’s had his moments throughout the year. We’ve been pretty balanced, but we had to lean on Tyler a lot. He answered the call for us.”
Cummings, who logged 36 carries for 220 yards, gave Lincoln (6-1, 3-1) a 21-0 lead after one quarter by adding touchdown runs of 4 and 1 yards. He then completed the scoring when he scored from 1 yard out with 15 seconds before halftime, and he also had an interception of a Jarod Cousins pass when the ball was tipped into his hands.
Gentry (4-3, 2-2) couldn’t get untracked in the rainy conditions, managing only 68 yards total offense and making only one seriousdrove to the Lincoln 35 late in the third quarter, but Cousins was dropped in the backfield and eventually fumbled the ball out of bounds for an 11-yard loss on a third-down play.
“It was Murphy’s Law from the get-go,” Gentry coach Bryan Little said. “We got behind the eight-ball early, and we were on the wrong end of the fi eld all night long.
“Things just didn’t go well for us. When you’re playing a good football team that takes advantage of it, that’s what happens to you.” Extra Points
Lincoln followed Cummings’ fi rst touchdown with on onside kick, and Lane Maddox recovered it for the Wolves at the Gentry 43.
A holding penalty kept Lincoln from invoking the sportsmanship rule in the third quarter when Cummings broke away for a 25-yard touchdown run.
The Wolves had fi rst-andgoal at the Gentry 3 with under two minutes remaining, but they elected to take a delay of game penalty and two knees to end the game.
Cousins accounted for 57 of Gentry’s 61 yards total offense, running the ball 23 times for 50 yards and completing 1 of 14 passes for 7 yards to Jon Brown.
Up Next
Both teams will be at home to continue 4A-1 Conference play as Gentry hosts Berryville, while Lincoln entertains Gravette.
Sports, Pages 9 on 10/23/2013