Football Preview: Lincoln Fighting Zebras vs. Wheatland Pirates
Lincoln is 4-0 against Wheatland since September of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Lincoln Fighting Zebras will be playing in front of their home fans against the Wheatland Pirates at 7:15 p.m. Both teams are still undefeated after four-games, but that won't be the case come Friday.
Lincoln is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by Mira Loma on the road to the tune of 63-0 last Thursday. While the Fighting Zebras didn't have the best season last year (they finished 1-9), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Lincoln to victory, but perhaps none more so than Eli Duff, who threw for 124 yards and four touchdowns on perfect 7-for-7 passing, and also rushed for 31 yards. Devin Davis was another key back, rushing for 122 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries.
Lincoln's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB five times. In that department, Hunter Johnson was the leader with 2.5 sacks. Brayden Bertozzi was another major factor on D, picking up 1.5 sacks and making seven total tackles (2.5 for loss).
While Wheatland didn't have the best season last year (they finished 3-7), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. Everything went their way against Bear River on Friday as Wheatland made off with a 27-7 win. Considering the Pirates have won three matches by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
The critical scores for Wheatland came from Joseph Franklin, Jordan James, and James.
Wheatland wouldn't let Bear River keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. Wheatland can thank James and Konley Cova for forcing all of them. Cova also set a new season high mark in rushing yards with 91. Wheatland got some further help from Isaac Martin: he picked up 0.5 sacks, made nine total tackles (2.0 for loss), and made nine total tackles (2.0 for loss) in addition to snagging an interception.
Lincoln's victory bumped their record up to 4-0. As for Wheatland, their win bumped their record up to an identical 4-0.
Everything went Lincoln's way against Wheatland in their previous matchup back in September of 2017, as Lincoln made off with a 36-12 victory. Will Lincoln repeat their success, or does Wheatland have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
