Christian Malone
VALDOSTA — Every year, Lincoln heads north for its annual game against Valdosta with an impressive group of players.
This year is no different.
Lincoln and its stable of college prospects come to Bazemore-Hyder Stadium tonight. Kickoff is at 8 p.m.
Like Valdosta (1-2), Lincoln has had a rough start to the season while facing a tough early schedule.
“They’ve had some adversity. They played a very tough early season schedule, like we have,” Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin said. “They beat Rickards (33-0), but lost to Godby (24-23) and an awfully good Pensacola team (34-7), and lost to Daphne (38-22), which played Hoover for the state championship last year. They’re a lot better than their 1-3 record indicates.
“I think he probably put that tough schedule together for the same reason that whoever made our schedule did it, so that they’d be ready for a tough region and the playoffs.”
Watch Lincoln warm up before the game, and they always look impressive. Few schools in the country have sent more players to Division I programs this decade than Lincoln has.
“They’ve got some athletes. On film, they’re scary good,” Tomberlin said. “They don’t have a great record, but they still look like a good team. They’re very athletic.”
The player who impressed Tomberlin the most on film was “the nose tackle, No. 75.” That nose tackle, 305-pound Tim Lamb, is the No. 20 defensive tackle in the country, and was scheduled to make his college commitment this week. Last year, Lamb broke the school record, held by veteran NFL defensive end Kevin Carter, with 31 tackles for loss. He had 58 total tackles, three forced fumbles and four sacks.
“He’s a great lineman,” Tomberlin said. “Lincoln’s got a great line, probably the best we’ve seen so far. But (Lamb) is the player that really impressed us.”
On offense, the Trojans are led by All-State tailback Brandon Paul. Paul, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds and has a 38-inch vertical leap, had 1,733 all-purpose yards and 17 touchdowns last season. Paul has received offers from a number of elite college teams, including Florida State, Florida, UCLA, LSU, Miami, Tennessee and Texas.
Defensive back Deshaun Barnes is also a Division I prospect, while junior quarterback B.J. Daniels is a dangerous dual threat player.
“The quarterback is a good player. He makes things happen,” Tomberlin said. “They’ve got a good running back (Paul) and a big offensive line. On the defensive line, they’re very strong, especially (Lamb). They’ve got a talented secondary.”
Last year’s Valdosta-Lincoln game was a heartbreaker for the Wildcats. With five minutes to play, Valdosta led 19-7 and had the ball. But the Wildcats fumbled the ball back to Lincoln at the VHS 30, which led to a touchdown. Then, with 1:01 left in the game and the ball at the VHS 18, nobody covered Lincoln receiver Isaac West, who hauled in an easy touchdown pass to win the game, 20-19. That was one of three games Valdosta lost by three points or less.
Valdosta comes into the game 1-2 after a 9-7 loss to defending state runner-up Brookwood last week.
“We’d like to get a win (tonight),” Tomberlin said. “It’s no fun starting 1-2. The kids have worked hard, and I think we’ll be ready for Lincoln.
“We’ve got to play 48 minutes. We can’t give them turnovers or big plays. We need to execute better on offense. We need to have a high emotional edge. We need to get after them.”
