LINCOLNTON, Ga. — A fourth quarter safety doomed the Social Circle Redskins as they fell to Lincoln County in an A Public Region 8 matchup Friday night by a score of 36-20.
After losing their region opener the week before, Social Circle was looking to get back on track and pick up their first region win as they took the long trip east to play the Lincoln County Red Devils who were 4-2 going into the game.
Through majority of the first half, the Red Devils’ secondary shut down the Redskins wideouts, making it hard for Social Circle to generate anything offensively early on.
The stout defensive play allowed Lincoln County to get on the board first by scoring on a nine-yard touchdown rush by Red Devils running back CJ Zellars, which put Social Circle down 6-0 after a missed extra point.
After being held to a fourth down by the Red Devils’ defense, the Social Circle snap went over the punter’s head and the ball was downed inside the Redskins’ 20-yard line giving Lincoln County excellent field position to start their next drive.
The Red Devils’ offense did not let the good field position go to waste as they marched down the field and get in for the score on a quarterback sneak by Keenon Lampkin to extend the Lincoln County lead to 13-0 going into the second quarter.
Following another Social Circle punt, the Red Devils put the ball in the air for one of the few times in the first two quarters as Lampkin found wideout Johnny Wise deep for the 69-yard touchdown pass to extend the Lincoln County lead by a score of 20-0.
After capitalizing on a Social Circle punt miscue earlier in the game, Lincoln County had one of their own as they mishandled the snap of a punt and gave the ball back to the Redskins inside of the Red Devils’ five-yard line.
The Redskins answered at the goal line with a one-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Logan Cross to Mason Moore as the two sophomores helped cut the Lincoln County lead to 20-7 at halftime.
Going into the locker room down by two scores, the Redskins looked to feed off momentum from the late first half touchdown and start chipping at Lincoln County’s lead in the second half.
Social Circle got a much-needed turnover on the Red Devils’ first offensive drive of the second half when Lampkin’s pass was tipped and intercepted by Tucker Clearly to start the Redskins’ next possession in Lincoln County territory.
Cross wasted no time as two plays later he found senior wideout Eric Taylor deep in the corner of the endzone for a 35-yard touchdown pass to bring the Redskins closer by a score of 20-14.
After holding the Red Devils to a quick three-and-out on their next drive, Taylor came through on special teams to block the punt and recover it in the endzone for a Social Circle touchdown. After the missed extra point attempt, both teams were tied at 20 going into the final quarter.
After holding the Red Devils to a turnover on downs inside the Redskins five-yard line, the bad starting field position for Social Circle bit them as Cross was sacked for a safety to give two points and the ball back to Lincoln County, trailing 22-20 with eight minutes left in regulation.
With the ball and the lead, the Red Devils kept the football on the ground and milked the clock down to just over two minutes before scoring on a one-yard rush by Colton Willis to extend the lead to 29-20.
Before the final seconds would tick off the clock, Lincoln County added another score on a 67-yard run by Tevin Gartrell to seal the victory.
With the loss, Social Circle drops to 2-5 on the season and 0-2 in region play.
After dropping their second straight game, the Redskins will have a week off to recharge before hosting another region matchup against the Commerce Tigers on Friday, Nov. 6.
