TALLAHASSEE – When the Lake City Columbia Tigers took Gene Cox Stadium to play the Lincoln Trojans they were looking for their first victory against them since 1999. That was the last time the Tigers beat Lincoln on any level, playoffs or regular season.
When the clock read 0:00, the visiting Tigers walked away with a 28-14 victory over the Trojans. The game plan was simple … run, run, and run some more. Lonnie Underwood, running back, carried the ball a total of 28 times.
The win pushed the Tigers record to 2-0 on the season while on the other hand dropping the Trojans to 2-1.
Columbia head coach Brian Allen hinted in pregame there would not be much variety in his offense.
“We know our strengths. Watching game film of them I told my boys that we were better than them. It would take two things to win this game: running the ball and sticking our hands in the dirt to play tough defense,” Allen said.
Big hits riddled the opening moments of the game. With a little under nine minutes left in the first quarter, Columbia’s Trey Marshall a Florida State commit went down on a crack back hit. It halted the game for almost 15 minutes. He left with what was classified as a concussion.
“I mean it was a big blow for us. He is one of the most vocal guys on the team. So, with him out I knew somebody was going to have to step up so I took it upon myself,” said Underwood.
Columbia’s Underwood started early in the first quarter breaking many long runs and capping them off with touchdowns. Lincoln stalled early but got the ball rolling with runs from Matthew Donaldson that later resulted in a score.
For the next couple of series it was big play countered by big play from each team but neither team scored.
Late in the second quarter Lincoln’s Darius Harvey connected with John Burt on an 80 yard touchdown. The play was a mix of elusiveness by Harvey and Burt being in the right place at the right time. That tied the game at 14-14 going into halftime.
At halftime there were 20 penalties cited. Fifteen were against Lincoln and five on Columbia.
In the second half the Tigers continued their success on the ground. Also chipping in was the Tiger defense shutting out the Trojans. The defense managed to force a fumble and get five sacks in the second half to go along with five sacks and two more takeaways in the first half.
“They ran when they wanted. We shot ourselves in the foot with all those penalties. When that happens then I expect us to lose,” Lincoln head coach Yusuf Shakir said.
Columbia’s Underwood ran for 197 yards on the night and ran in every score for the Tigers. On the opposite side of the ball the linebacker duo of Zedrick Woods and Terry Calloway collected 16 tackles, five sacks and a fumble recovery.
Harvey for Lincoln threw for 198 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 11-for-22 passing. Donaldson ran for 76 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries. Jeffery Williams managed to have 13 tackles with four coming behind the line of scrimmage. Kendall Randolph also chipped in with nine tackles.
Next for the Tigers will be a home game against Gainesville Buchholz, Sept. 13, another team that is undefeated on the season. The Trojans will look to rebound on the road against Sarasota next week.
