The Lincoln Prep Lightning will venture away from home to face off against the Superior Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Lincoln Prep's defense has only allowed 16.6 points per game this season, so Superior's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Lincoln Prep is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Arizona's top teams: Hayden, who was ranked first in their home state at the time (Lincoln Prep was ranked eighth). Lincoln Prep was outmatched by Hayden on the road and fell 57-14. The Lightning haven't had much luck with the Lobos recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Despite the loss, Lincoln Prep saw an underclassman step up: Connor Mewhinney picked up 124 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Mewhinney showed off some serious burst, cutting upfield on a catch for 55 yards.
Lincoln Prep wouldn't let Hayden keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. Lincoln Prep can thank Tanner Finlinson and Lincoln Carlson for forcing all of them.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Superior). They breezed by Fort Thomas on the road to the tune of 50-22 on Friday. With the Panthers ahead 28-6 at the half, the match was all but over already.
Antonio Lopez was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries, and also threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns while completing 85.7% of his passes. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Andrew Blair, who rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Superior was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 228 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
One reason for the win was Superior's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Adam Sandoval and Ryland Duarte, who racked up four sacks between them.
Lincoln Prep's defeat ended a five-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 4-1. As for Superior, their win bumped their record up to 2-3.
Lincoln Prep was taken down by Superior 66-24 when the teams last played back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Blair, who rushed for 225 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries. Now that Lincoln Prep knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
