VERO BEACH — Taylor Jacobs Jr. threw three touchdown passes and five different players scored as Lincoln routed Carol City 40-13 in a late afternoon Kickoff Classic here on Aug. 16.
Jacobs threw touchdown passes to receivers Trevor Jacobs and Maliek Denmark in the first quarter as the Trojans built a 24-7 lead at the half. Kabran Paul, an Appalachian State commit, added a touchdown catch in the second half.
“It’s a team win,” Lincoln first-year coach Matt Jackson said.
“I thought offense came out and executed for the most past, (but) we left some plays on the field. But under the conditions, we hadn’t really practiced in this type of heat, we only had one guy cramp and I think that was in the fourth quarter. I think that was a tremendous effort on them guys of hydrating.”
Running back Tadarius Huggins and quarterback Jonah Bedford both scored rushing touchdowns for the Trojans.
Carol City scored once each half — a pick-six in the first quarter to tie the game at 7 and a touchdown pass in the third quarter.
Lincoln opens the regular season against Niceville on Aug. 22.
Here are three takeaways from the Trojans win.
Lincoln’s offense is going to cause a lot of problems
Defensive coordinators will probably lose some sleep trying to figure out how to contain the Trojans offense this season. The pass catchers, led by Paul, Trevor Jacobs, Denmark and tight end Will Tawney are tough to matchup against because of their ability to stretch the field. But if you respect the speed too much, Lincoln is very content to throw short, quick passes and let their receivers make plays. Add in Taylor Jacobs dual-threat ability and the hard running of Huggins, Tawney and Reginald Thompson and it’s really a pick-your poison-type situation for a defense.
WR Kabran Paul will either beat you or open things up for everyone else
Carol City’s secondary had a lot of trouble trying to contain Paul. The 5-foot-9, 155-pound speedster caught six passes that either went for first downs or a touchdown. Lincoln targeted him early and often as five of those catches came in the first half. Lincoln’s coaching staff schemed multiple ways to get the ball in Paul’s hands and he rewarded their faith multiple times. Opposing teams will have to decided between rolling additional defenders to his side and allow Lincoln’s other receivers to get behind them, or take their chances covering Paul with just one defender.
The Trojans pass rush got plenty of pressure
One of the biggest things Jackson wanted to see was how an inexperienced front seven would perform. Overall, it was a positive performance, especially rushing the quarterback. Damien Ling had a big sack on fourth down inside the Carol City 30-yard line and Jaylin Parrish put the exclamation point on the scoring with a sack for a safety in the third quarter. There were some missed tackles, especially in the second half, but overall the performance was a solid one to build on.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Football: Lincoln offense dominates, Trojans crush Carol City 40-13 in Kickoff Classic
Reporting by Jon Santucci, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
