Lincoln Is Bruised by San Pasqual and Again Knocked Out of Playoffs

San Pasqual and Lincoln have never met in a regular season football game. Lincoln wishes the same could be said for the playoffs.

For the second consecutive year and third time in the 1980s, San Pasqual (8-4) has knocked Lincoln (9-2) out of the San Diego CIF playoffs.

Last year in the semifinals, San Pasqual caught Lincoln by surprise by throwing the football en route to a stunning, 28-27 victory over the top-seeded Hornets. Lincoln had its seven-game playoff winning streak snapped, and San Pasqual went on to tie San Marcos for the 2-A title.

Saturday at Mira Mesa High, San Pasqual defeated No. 2 seed Lincoln, 40-29, behind a bruising rushing attack that amassed 365 yards.

San Pasqual, which finished tied for third in the Avocado League, will face El Camino, which finished second and defeated University City on the same Mira Mesa field Friday night.

Tony Medina, a 5-foot 10-inch fullback, had 4 touchdowns, carrying 23 times for 235 yards. Medina was simply unstoppable. Most of his runs came right up the middle, and most were for huge yardage.

“He’d been getting stronger every week for the past 4 or 5 weeks,” Eagles Coach Mike Dolan said. “He ran like he can tonight. He’s a bull.”

Medina said it was by far the best game of his career but was quick to give credit to his blockers.

“My offensive line was opening up the biggest holes they have all year,” Medina said. “Since I’m not very fast, I need big holes to run through. The hogs up front kept opening them up.

“They kept up the intensity all game. We were just in better shape.”

Enabling Medina to rack up those yards, including 176 in the second half, were offensive linemen Steve Kircher, Tim Young, Scott Thomas, Chad Emarine and Lee Johnston.

“Last year we didn’t think we were strong enough so we came out throwing,” Dolan said. “This year we felt we were strong enough. We knew this was going to be a physical game.”

San Pasqual took a 20-15 halftime lead when it scored 3 touchdowns on long drives. Lincoln took its opening possession 62 yards for a touchdown. David Drake ran 17 yards on a quarterback sneak.

Medina scored the next 2 touchdowns capping 69- and 61-yard drives to take a 14-7 lead. Lincoln’s Orlanzo Edwards scored on a 60-yard sweep, and Drake hit Lonnie Fields on the 2-point conversion to give Lincoln a 15-14 lead.

Quarterback Andy Loveland completed his only pass of the night (on 5 attempts) to Eric Olsen for a 31-yard touchdown to end the first-half scoring.

In the second half, San Pasqual started to wear down the smaller Hornets and began chewing up yardage and the clock. Medina scored to more touchdowns on runs of 29 and 3 yards, and Jim Clayton (14 carries, 76 yards) scored on a 1-yard run.