St. Mary's football dominates Lincoln to win TCAL championship
When two bitter prep football rivals go head to head, almost every snap is an explosive play. That was the case when Lincoln football hosted St. Mary’s in the final game of the regular season.
Trojan fans heckled the Rams all night long from chants of “Daddy’s money” to booing them on their run out. The St. Mary’s student section was riddled with gold with the words “Average Joe” written on their shirt to further play into the private vs. public school difference between the two Stockton area schools.
“You can ask any of my teammates, I was hyped the entire week and I couldn't wait to play against them,” said Cayden Ward, St. Mary’s senior wide receiver. “Everybody knows I hate Lincoln more than anybody so I was hyped for this game.”
Ward and the Rams lived up to the hype as they dominated Lincoln for a 54-28 victory. Here are the key takeaways from the high-scoring game that earned St. Mary’s the Tri-City Athletic League championship.
‘You can’t stop us’
The Trojans fan section wasn’t the only one coming up with chants in Friday night's game. Midway through the first quarter, the Rams student section ringed with chants of “You can’t stop us.”
The chants proved true.
St. Mary’s senior quarterback connected with sophomore Kenneth Moore III for a 33-yard touchdown without a Lincoln defender even coming close to stopping him.
The score put the Rams up 20-0 and they were just getting started. Hunkin continued to punish the Trojans' secondary defense connecting with three different wide receivers for a touchdown.
“Boy, when we’re clicking, we’re really good,” said Tony Franks, St. Mary’s head coach. “We did a really nice job of executing. Samson found some really small windows to throw into and our receivers did a nice job of catching the ball.”
Hunkin ended the night throwing for 208 yards and four touchdown passes on 15-of-17 completions. He connected with Ward twice from 21 and 12 yards out in the first half. On the ground, the Rams were just as good.
“Asante Carter had a good night and it's good to see that ground game going,” Franks said. “It's good to see Asante get some tough yards and then he broke off some nice runs. He just kept getting us first downs.”
The senior power back carried the ball 23 times for about 145 yards and two touchdowns. Along with Carter, Moore found the endzone again on a punt return from about 50 yards out to round out the Rams near unstoppable offensive outing.
Trojans live to fight another day
The Trojans could’ve lied down and gave up after falling behind 27-0 in the second quarter. Head coach Terrance Hampton and his staff did everything they could to keep their players locked in. Leading the charge on the field was junior running back Jordin Thomas.
“I love the way Thomas ran,” Hampton said. “He never gave up. But when you’re up against a juggernaut like St. Mary’s they capitalize on every mistake. You can't afford any mistakes.”
Thomas ended the night rushing for around 255 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns. The 5-foot-9 workhorse scored the Trojans' first points of the night on a 13-yard run thus giving his team life. Lincoln’s best bet against the Rams' defense was sticking to the ground game.
Along with Thomas, senior Daniel Emojevbe helped keep the ground game alive, rushing for two touchdowns from 20 and 45 yards out. It may not have been enough to close the gap but Lincoln's 21-point finish is the most any other TCAL team has scored against St. Mary’s this season.
“I trust and believe in the system and program that we’re trying to run here,” Hampton said. “You learn from your mistakes. You watch them, you heal up the injuries that we do have and you prepare for your next opponent.”
Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: St. Mary's football dominates rival Lincoln in Week 10
