GREENLAND — The Lincoln Wolves served early notice to the Greenland Junior High Pirates that any thought of victory they might entertain would be of the hardfought variety.

Taking the opening kickoff Lincoln methodically marched down the field using a combination of tough inside running and big yardage gains with passes in a ten play drive culminating in a Cheyenne Vaughn to Tyler Cummins 16 yard pass into the end zone for the game's initial score.

With Greenland facing an early 8-0 deficit, quarterback Darien Froud showed he, too, could engineer a long drive. Using Evan Johnson in the passing game and Dakota Jackson as a battering ram for rushing gains, Froud produced a 13 play excursion into Wolves territory. On a third and long from the Lincoln 20 yard lineFroud threw into for pay dirt only to be intercepted by Dalton Simmons, who returned the ball to the 30 yard line thwarting the Pirates and concluding the first quarter of action.

Midway into the second quarter, with both defenses asserting themselves, Greenland was again bitten by the mistake bug as a snap from center in punt formation sailed over the kicker's head giving the Wolves a safety and another two points for a 10-0 advantage.

Following the kickoff Lincoln played for a quick strike due to the clock ticking under a minute. Lincoln's jacob Hernandez sliced and diced the Pirate defense with some nifty running for a score with three seconds remaining in the half. The extra points were tallied by Vaughn who ran untouched into the end zone giving the Wolves an insurmountable 18-0 half time lead. The Pirates scored a late touchdownon a pass from Darien Froud to Blade Snyder.

Lincoln coach Brad Harris was happy with how his team performed. "We knew coming in that this game would be tough. Coach Sutton does a wonderful job with his kids and they always play hard. I thought the interception we had at the end of the first quarter was huge. If they score on that play it's a whole different game and we would have been in a fight down to the wire." Pirate skipper Tracy Sutton saw room for improvement. "We did some things well tonight but give Lincoln credit for a good game. Their quarterback was the best player on the field tonight. He is a good athlete and made plays when he had too. Our kids kept fighting when they got down. Our defense was hitting well but you can't give up the big plays like we did and expect to win.

Greenland travels to Mansfield this week.

Sports, Pages 7 on 10/01/2009

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