San Diego Prep Review : Lincoln Is Getting the Most Out of Its Players

The Lincoln High School football team has one distinction that sets it apart from the other county teams.

The Hornets have scored 97 points in two games. And with one of the county’s smaller enrollments, they have fewer than 30 varsity players for each game. They average more than one point per player per game.

Lincoln’s first-year Coach Skip Coons didn’t expect such a productive offense.

When he took over for Ray Hooper, he inherited a team that qualified for the CIF San Diego Section 2-A playoffs last season. But he was without quarterback Steve Taylor, who was most often credited for leading the Hornet offense. Coons had just two returning starters.

“Whenever you have a changing of the guard, you’re going to have little problems until everyone knows what’s going on,” Coons said. “We’re just hoping to hold our own.”

Holding their own may have been a preseason goal, but Lincoln has established itself as a legitimate contender, along with Crawford, for the City Central League title.

Lincoln opened the season with a 56-8 win against Centennial High of Compton. Despite having seven players playing both offense and defense, three players scored three touchdowns apiece to lead Lincoln’s rout.

Still, nothing could be concluded from that thrashing because of Centennial’s suspect defense. The Hornets, however, quieted the critics with a 41-10 win against Patrick Henry on Friday.

The Patriots, a 3-A team, were much more competitive a week earlier in a 21-0 loss against Helix, the county’s top-rated team. Malcolm Glover, who saw little action as the backup quarterback to Taylor, threw for three touchdowns against Patrick Henry.

Lincoln has a bye this week, but should receive honest tests in its next two games. Lincoln plays Kearny on Oct. 4 and Morse on Oct. 11, both at Mesa College. Kearny is the county’s top-rated 2-A team. The Hornets begin league play against Hoover on Oct. 18 at Lincoln.

If the shoe fits: Point Loma’s 29-0 victory over La Jolla on Saturday was more than simply a shutout by one team over another in a nonleague game. At stake was a six-inch-tall bronze trophy called The Shoe.

Such pride was involved in claiming the trophy that many Point Loma players stood on the bench with The Shoe held high and chanted, “Shoe,” in the direction of their fans.

With the win, Point Loma will hold the trophy for the fifth straight year. The trophy represents a rivalry that dates back to 1926. Point Loma leads the series 34-17.

Add Point Loma: Indicative of the way things went in the Pointers’ favor Saturday was the result of a La Jolla punt in the third quarter.

Trailing 21-0, La Jolla punted from its 42-yard line to the Point Loma 32. A Point Loma penalty enabled La Jolla to punt again from its 47-yard line and attempt to push the Pointers deeper into their own end.

Things didn’t go as planned, however. Punter Eric Silverman leaped high to field a bad snap and got off a very short punt. The ball went out of bounds at La Jolla’s 45-yard line, resulting in a punt of minus two yards.

Biggest streak: Sweetwater’s 39-0 win over CETYS on Friday was its 26th consecutive win and is the longest winning streak in San Diego prep football history. Kearny (1963-65) is second on the list with 23.