Lincoln Beats Cheyney 30-18 in Battle of the Firsts

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pennsylvania – The Lions (1-0) opened the 2014 season with a 30-18 victory over rival Cheyney University (0-1) at home in a televised game on Thursday, September 4^th. Senior wide receiver Akeem Jordan (Washington, DC/Carroll HS) set a career-high with 156 receiving yards and had three touchdown receptions leading Lincoln to a glorious win.

In his second season as head football coach at The Lincoln University, Ramon Flanigan has now won both of the season-opening Battle of the Firsts contests against Cheyney University.

Lincoln collected 357 total offensive yards after rushing for a solid 135 yards and 222 passing yards. Defensively, the Lions forced two interceptions in the final five minutes of the game to seal their second consecutive victory over Cheyney, improving to 12-2-1 in the series. The Wolves took a late 18-17 lead at the 8:22 mark in the fourth quarter after their second rushing touchdown of the night. With their backs against the wall, the Lions roared back with timely defensive plays. Senior defensive back Jacob Lockley (Philadelphia, PA/Mastbaum Vo-Tech) intercepted the Cheyney quarterback at mid-field with 4:53 left in regulation giving his offense another opportunity to pull ahead.

Lincoln used a pair of rushes to lure the Cheyney defense for a third passing touchdown from 25-yards out by quarterback Doug Cook (Dania Beach, FL/University School of Nova SE University) and Akeem Jordan (Washington, DC/Carroll HS). With a 23-18 advantage and 1:40 left to play, the Lincoln defense once again rose to the occasion forcing a second-straight Cheyney turnover.

In five plays, the Wolves offense gained 38 yards driving to the Lions 32-yard line in a final attempt for a score. The Lions defense applied pressure and sophomore Dezman Ellis(Bowie, MD/DeMatha Catholic HS) picked off Cheyney for a 65-yard touchdown returned off an interception. That was Ellis' first career interception and touchdown as a Lion. With 19-seconds remaining, Lincoln extended their lead to 30-18 downing Cheyney.

Running back Stephen Scott (Baltimore, MD/Bethel College) rushed for 99 total yards and had two receptions for 15 yards. Scott averaged 5.5 yards per carry and has the second most net yards rushing (99) in a game in Lincoln football history (114 –D'Ante Smith; at Livingstone; 9/26/2009) .

The duo of Doug Cook (Dania Beach, FL/University School of Nova SE University) and Akeem Jordan (Washington, DC/Carroll HS) hooked up for three touchdowns matching their 2013 performance against the Wolves. Doug Cook (Dania Beach, FL/University School of Nova SE University) completed 14-of-22 pass attempts for 222 total yards. This was Cook's fifth time throwing for three touchdowns in a game as a Lion. His longest completion of the night was a 44-yard bomb to Akeem Jordan (Washington, DC/Carroll HS) in the second quarter setting up the Lions' first touchdown. Cook and Jordan gave the Lions a 10-0 lead with a 25-yard touchdown with six minutes remaining in the first half. The dynamic duo reconnected in the fourth quarter for a pair of scores from 33-yards and 25-yards out. Jordan finished with six receptions for a career-high 156 total yards receiving and tied a career-best with three receiving touchdowns.   

Senior wide receiver Anthony Green (Chester, PA/Upper Darby HS) had four catches for 28 yards and junior wide receiver Brandon Rowe (Harlem, NY/Hudson Valley CC) had a pair of receptions for 23 yards. Rowe had 68 all-purpose yards with two kick-off returns for 25 yards while rushing for an additional 20 yards.

Junior defensive back Brandon Robinson had a team-high eight tackles to lead the Lincoln defense. Senior linebacker Keith Harris (Philadelphia, PA/Rancocas Valley Regional HS)and sophomore linebacker Wadel Louis (Miami, FL/North Miami Beach HS) each had seven tackles while defensive lineman Stephen Lloyd (Bowie, MD/Anne Arundel CC) finished with six tackles. Three of Lloyd's tackles were for a loss of 15 yards and he recorded the only sack of the game for a loss of 14 yards. Senior defensive back Lorenzo Adams(Philadelphia, PA/George Washington HS) had four pass breakups with three tackles and junior defensive back James Thomas (Los Angeles, CA/Oaks Christian Academy) had three pass breakups along with four tackles.

Kicker Brett Arkelian (Clovis, CA) connected on a 23-yard field goal attempt in the 2^nd quarter and averaged 46.0 yards on three punts with a long of 53-yards.

Lincoln moves to 1-0 in 2014 and will host North Carolina Wesleyan at home in their next game on Saturday, September 10^th at 1 p.m.

COURTESY THE LINCOLN UNIVERSITY LIONS SPORTS INFORMATION