HS Football: Lincoln Defends Home Turf On Senior Night Against Bellarmine Prep

10/19/24

Lincoln Abes 41, Bellarmine Prep Lions 10

(Tacoma, WA) On both senior night and homecoming weekend, the Lincoln Abes came into the contest with three straight wins, all of which came against PSL Narrows teams. The Bellarmine Prep Lions were coming off their first loss of the year, which was only a seven-point loss to a good Mount Tahoma squad. Through the rain, the teams would battle it out at the Lincoln Bowl for the opportunity to grab the top spot in the PSL Narrows.

In the first quarter, Lincoln got the ball first but would start at their six-yard line. The Abes were able to drive down the field, and sophomore quarterback Sione Kaho hit Messiah Ellick on a screen. Ellick did the rest, as he went 38 yards for the touchdown to give Lincoln a 6-0 lead. Bellarmine Prep would get the ball and drive down the field on the game’s longest drive, a 13-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass, as junior quarterback Birk Johnston floated a pass for Gabe Gomez and Gomez came down with it to give Bellarmine Prep a 7-6 lead. Lincoln wasted no time getting back on the scoreboard, as after a five-yard penalty, Kaho hit Kanoa Teplasy on the near side. Teplasy shook two defenders and showed off his speed to outrun everybody to get the 61-yard touchdown and give Lincoln a 12-7 lead.

On the ensuing drive, the Abes would force the first turnover of the game, with Eonytus Kitiona getting the interception and a good return to set up the Lincoln offense at the 23-yard line. The Bellarmine Prep defense did a good job with their backs up against the goal line, forcing fourth and goal, but Lincoln would turn to running back Jadeon Scranton, who ran it in from one yard out to give Lincoln an 18-7 lead. The Abes went for two, Sione Kaho threw a perfect pass to the back far corner of the end zone, and Kasey Williams came down with the catch to give Lincoln a 20-7 lead in the early portion of the second quarter.

Lincoln forced another interception, this time on third down Bellarmine Prep attempted a pass toward the sideline, and Lincoln’s Kanoa Teplasy came flying in to make the interception just before going out of bounds. The Abes drove down the field, and Kaho threw his third touchdown of the night, finding Tyrone Jones in the back of the end zone for the nine-yard touchdown to give Lincoln a 27-7 lead. After a Bellarmine Prep punt, Lincoln was driving and looking for their fifth touchdown of the half, but Bellarmine Prep’s Raiden Calocote made an interception right before the end of the half to stop the Abes and keep it 27-7 with Lincoln on top at the halftime break.

In the third quarter, Bellarmine Prep got the ball first and had a good drive going as the Lions drove down inside the ten, but the Lincoln defense held Bellarmine Prep out of the end zone. The Lions would get a field goal from Cal Tsuneyoshi to make it 27-10. After a pair of turnover on downs, Lincoln would get the ball toward the end of the third quarter, and drive down the field, with the help of getting first down on third and 21 from their own 15-yard line, Sione Kaho found Kasey Williams again, this time for 24 yards to pick up the first down. Later on the drive, Maurice Gosby took a handoff going to the left and was able to dance his way through the defense for a 19-yard touchdown to give Lincoln a 34-10 lead.

On the next drive, Ka’Isaiah Wilson got an interception and took it 45 yards to the house for the pick-six, giving Lincoln a 41-10 lead. The teams traded punts to close out the game and Lincoln would get the 41-10 win on senior night.

Our elisportsnetwork.com Game MVP went to Lincoln senior Kanoa Teplasy, who had the great 61-yard catch and run and somehow got to the ball in time to grab the remarkable interception, both coming in the first half to help Lincoln take control of the ballgame and the PSL Narrows with the victory.

The Lincoln Abes improves to 5-2 on the season and 4-0 in the PSL Narrows. Lincoln has also clinched the PSL Narrows and will be the number one seed from the PSL Narrows in the week nine crossover with the PSL Nisqually division. The one seed out of the PSL Nisqually division will be decided next week, as Capital, who’s 3-1 in the division, will take on Lakes, who’s 4-0 in the division. Bellarmine Prep drops to 5-2 on the season and 2-2 in the PSL Narrows. They are in the middle of a four-way tie for the second seed, as the Lions, Central Kitsap, Gig Harbor, and Mount Tahoma are all 2-2 in the PSL Narrows. Bellarmine Prep will face Gig Harbor next week.

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ESN Talks With Kanoa Teplasy