Lincoln plays Folsom tough before two late touchdowns, as Bulldogs win 41-14

For Folsom, Friday's game against Lincoln was a chance to play a game during a tumultuous COVID shortened season. For Lincoln, it was a chance to measure themselves against one of the elite programs in the Sacramento area. By looking at the final score, it was a dominating 41-14 Folsom victory, but, in reality, the game was a bit closer than that most of the way. The Bulldogs only led 21-7 at halftime, and after three quarters were up 27-14, as Lincoln was still within two scores. Two fourth-quarter touchdowns, one with just over a minute to play, expanded the lead. "For not seeing film and for being a heavy underdog, I couldn't be more proud of my team," Lincoln coach Chris Bean said. "For seven years, we've been trying to get Lincoln to see what elite teams look like. We didn't back down tonight and if you want to, you could look back and say if a couple plays went the other way it would have been a lot closer." Lincoln was preparing all week to face Nevada Union, but the Miners had trouble getting their COVID test results back. Fortunately, Folsom became available. "There was hesitation before saying we'd play," Bean admitted before the game. "Folsom would be a tough team to prepare for if we had two weeks to prepare, let alone two hours. There's a gap there between Folsom and everyone else, but I've got a solid group of hard-working kids." The Bulldogs were licking their chops all week preparing for what many expected to be the Sierra Foothill League championship game against Rocklin. When the Thunder didn't receive their COVID tests result by 3 p.m., the Bulldogs decided to look for another opponent and found the Zebras. The Bulldogs didn't look their best tonight, as the defense struggled to get off the field at times despite only allowing two touchdowns. Offensively, they weren't as efficient as usual, but in the end they still won the game by a large margin. Quarterback Tyler Tremain completed 21-of-35 passes for 337 and five touchdowns. Walker Lyons, Rico Flores Jr., Austin McMillan, Justin Arnaz and Dorian Blackwell caught touchdown passes. Flores caught seven passes for 182 yards. "Lincoln has a lot of good players and did a lot of things on defense we haven't seen," Tremain said. "They're a good team. It was pretty shocking to hear we weren't going to play Rocklin. I never thought that that would happen, but with COVID, you have to do what you have to do." McMillan added, "I'm disappointed we didn't get to play Rocklin, because that was our championship game, but with COVID, I'm just happy we get to play at all." Lincoln was led by senior quarterback JT Willis, who completed 14-of-33 passes for 134 yards and one score. The Zebras had several players run the ball, led by Kyle Remigio, who gained 63 yards on four carries. Brennen Burlew had 16 rushes for 39 hard-earned yards, while Ryan Henning gained 18 yards on six carries. Caden Noonan caught four passes for 40 yards, while Remigio caught three passes for 33 yards. Terrence Wright and Tyler Giles each caught two passes for 30 yards and 20 yards, respectively. Gabriel Burns scored Lincoln's first touchdown on a one-yard run midway through the first quarter to tie the game at seven. Their second touchdown came on a pass from Willis to Noonan from four yards out, which tightened the score to 27-14 with 3:50 to play in the third quarter. "I felt we competed big time," senior quarterback JT Willis. "We didn't back down and left it all out there on the field. It was a great game to play." Folsom assistant coach Jordan Banning gave Lincoln a lot of credit. "They have a tough offense to prepare for, as they do a lot of shifting," Banning said. "They're like a mix of a wing-t offense and the spread. They play hard and they're well coached. On top of that, we get everyone's best shot and Lincoln played well."