The Lincoln Prep Lightning will head out on the road to square 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 had to suffer through a 57-14 loss at the hands of Hayden. The defeat continues a trend for the Lightning in their matchups with the Lobos: they've now lost four in a row.
Despite the loss, Lincoln Prep saw an underclassman step up: Connor Mewhinney picked up 124 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Mewhinney was no stranger to the big play, lighting up the secondary with a catch that went 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 simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Fort Thomas 50-22 on the road. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 28-6.
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 took a serious blow against Superior in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, falling 66-24. 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
