Three weeks ago, the Lincoln High School football team suffered a tough 32-8 loss to Union City.
In years past, a lopsided loss such as that would have been devastating to the Lions and might have sent them spiraling downward toward oblivion.
But this is not like other years.
“It’s kind of like a boxer who fought 15 rounds and got knocked down a lot of times,” said Lincoln head coach Robert Hampton. “But he didn’t get knocked out. That made him a tougher fighter. It was a lot like that for us. We went toe-to-toe with Union City, got beat up, but didn’t embarrass ourselves. I think it’s going to make us a better team in the long run. It was a good loss, because it made us realize we could play at a higher level.”
Despite losing key players like quarterback Zymire Gordon and standout two-way lineman Daisjon Robinson to injuries, the Lions rebounded nicely after the loss to Union City and collected hard-earned victories over St. Anthony and Hoboken, the latter being a dominating 40-3 decision over the Red Wings.
The Lions got the win the old fashioned way, running the football with reckless abandon.
“That was the mandate going into the game,” Hampton said. “We were going to take the ball and run with it. We thought we could run the ball.”
Sophomore Kamani Addison was the Lions’ leading rusher, collecting 140 yards. Senior Devell Jones added 130 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Tyquan Simmons and junior Frank Darby had long touchdown runs. All totaled, the Lions had more than 400 yards rushing, thus the shocking one-sided result.
Hampton said that he could sense that his team wasn’t demoralized after the loss to Union City.
“I thought because of the climate of our practices that we could come back,” Hampton said. “The attitude of this team has been outstanding. This is a team with a lot of character and the seniors have been through a lot. We battled with Union City. We had nothing to be embarrassed about. We had the ‘Let’s not die easy, let’s die hard’ mentality that day. I think we opened some eyes.”
Hampton knows that things might have been different in previous years.
“In other years, that loss might have set us on a two-game losing streak and wouldn’t have had a chance to bounce back from that,” Hampton said. “Over the years, we’ve been chipping away at the character of the team. We’re going to be a different team this time in the state playoffs. I like our chances this year in the state playoffs.”
The Lions face undefeated Hudson Catholic next weekend in the game that will decide the Hudson County Interscholastic League-White Division championship game. Both teams currently own identical 3-0 records in the league. The Lions have the bye this week.
“Hudson Catholic is not going to be an easy game,” Hampton said. “[Lou] Zampella is a good coach and I respect him a lot over the years. This is their best team since [former head coach [Rob] Stern left. It’s going to be a good game. I want us to be the flag waver for the Jersey City public schools and if we can continue to win games like we have been, we can keep some of our kids and they won’t want to go to the other schools.”…
There are two weeks remaining for local teams to make a push toward qualifying for the NJSIAA football state playoffs.
Let’s take a closer look at where the local teams stand:
North Jersey Section 1, Group V: Three local teams are in contention for berths. Union City has already clinched a spot. The Soaring Eagles are currently the top seed in the section by a good number with 112 power points. North Bergen is fourth with 80 points and Memorial is currently eighth with 48 points. If the season ended today, Union City would host Memorial in a first round playoff game.
North Jersey Section 2, Group I: Hoboken may have lost two straight games, but the Red Wings sit fourth in the section with 55 points. Secaucus stayed alive with its overtime win against North Arlington and the Patriots are seventh with 43 points.
North Jersey Section 2, Group V: Bayonne is seventh with 51 points. Dickinson is still alive with 31 points, but the Rams are currently 10th.
Non-Public Group 1: St. Anthony is currently third with 62 points. Despite the 1-5 record, Marist is still alive with 24 points.
Non-Public Group 2: Hudson Catholic is sitting third in the section with 68 points.
Non-Public Group 4: The Marauders of St. Peter’s Prep are currently third behind Paramus Catholic and Bergen Catholic…
North Bergen’s Axel Fuentes had the best rushing game last week, going for 170 yards and two touchdowns, followed by Isaiah Abreu of Weehawken, who had 163 yards and two TDs. Others of note include Jonathan Castellanos of Union City (138 yards on six carries and three TDs) and Keshawn Green of Marist (112 yards on seven carries and 2 TDs)….
St. Peter’s Prep’s Brandon Wimbush completed 12-of-14 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns in the Marauders’ 49-0 romp over Bayonne last weekend. Wimbush, headed for Notre Dame, now has 1,534 yards passing and 19 touchdowns this season, while rushing for nearly 300 yards and an additional five scores…
Wimbush is currently ranked No. 36 nationally among the top 300 prospects by ESPN. Wimbush’s teammate, Alabama-bound defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick is ranked No. 26…
Memorial’s Mayensy Vargas, featured here last week, will lead the Tigers into the Hudson County Tournament finale this weekend against Kearny…
Last week, we reported the illness of respected baseball and softball umpire Bill Mauer. Unfortunately, Mauer passed away at the age of 71. Mauer was beloved by all who knew him and he certainly touched a lot of lives during his days as a Little League coach and umpire, both on the Little League and high school levels. Several umpires said at Mauer’s services that they got their starts in umpiring through Mauer…
Former St. Peter’s College men’s basketball coach Ted Fiore announced his retirement from coaching at Montclair State recently and former Peacock standout Daren Rowe has been selected as Fiore’s interim replacement…
Rutgers-Newark will run the Scarlet Raiders Basketball Clinic on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 6-7 for both boys and girls, ages 6-17, at the Golden Dome on the school’s campus, under the guidance of R-N men’s coach Joe Loughran. For more information, contact Loughran at (973) 353-1483…
Hudson Reporter H.S. Football Top Five: 1. St. Peter’s Prep (5-1). 2. Union City (5-1). 3. North Bergen (5-1). 4. Lincoln (5-1). 5. Hudson Catholic (6-0)…
Hudson Reporter H.S. Soccer Top Five: 1. North Bergen (10-5-1). 2. St. Peter’s Prep (12-4-1). 3. Memorial (8-5). 4. Dickinson (10-3-1). 5. Union City (7-8-1). – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.