Lincoln’s defense forces four turnovers, offense shines in rout of Monroe in 3A playoffs
It was billed as a potential shootout between two high-flying offenses, with the Monroe Bearcats visiting the Lincoln Abes in the opening round of the Class 3A state football tournament at Lincoln Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
It turned out, however, that only Lincoln received the invitation to the track meet. The only high-flying offense on display came courtesy of four-star quarterback Gabarri Johnson, a Missouri commit, and the fourth-seeded Abes, who won 49-16 to advance to the state quarterfinals.
By half, Lincoln led 29-8 against No. 13 Monroe. Lincoln’s offense forced four first half turnovers — a fumble and three interceptions — making Monroe’s offense look merely pedestrian. Coming into Saturday’s matchup, Monroe’s offense was averaging 46.9 points per game.
“We just came in this week, really just wanted to focus on our defense,” said Lincoln safety Stephon Pugh. “Last week, we let up way too many points, so we just wanted to come in and play better coverage and that’s what we did.”
Going into the fourth quarter, Monroe had just eight points on the scoreboard. It was the type of defensive effort Lincoln coach Masaki Matsumoto has been waiting to see.
“We’ve been challenging the defense, we have not peaked yet,” Matsumoto said. “It’s been the offense carrying us all season, even last week. … Today, they did a good job reading their keys. We stayed home. It was a great showing for our defense.”
Monroe’s defense seemed keen on stopping Johnson’s running ability early on, so Lincoln’s star dual-threat quarterback took to the air. He completed 18-of-28 passes for 219 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 98 yards and 14 carries. Johnson has shown the ability to put up hundreds of yards on the ground on any given week, but on Saturday, made his living mostly as a passer.
“A lot of defenses know I can run so they’ll just expect that first,” Johnson said. “Every time we get that type of team, (my coach) just says to take the low-hanging fruit in the passing game. Hitches, screens, little stuff like that.
“Week by week, I’ve just gotten better at taking the low-hanging fruit and letting my receivers work. The receivers have gotten better every week making people miss. The line does an amazing job calling out who’s coming, who’s not. Shout out to them.”
After a high snap sailed over Johnson’s head in the first quarter for a safety, Lincoln wrestled back momentum after trailing by a point and never looked back. Kelly Sio-Fetaui gave the Abes the lead with a 1-yard run, Johnson extended the lead with an 11-yard run and Johnson found Drake Granberry for a 28-yard touchdown to give the Lincoln the 29-8 halftime lead.
AN SEC-BOUND QUARTERBACK PLAYING SAFETY? BELIEVE IT
Johnson appeared on defense at safety in various spots throughout the game, notably on obvious passing third downs. Matsumoto said he was inspired by watching then-Ohio State-bound Gee Scott Jr. playing both ways for Eastside Catholic when the Crusaders beat the Abes in the 2019 state tournament semifinals. Scott, headed to Ohio State as a highly-touted receiver, was also playing corner against Lincoln.
Of course, that’s a little different than a quarterback playing defense, but the underlying point remains: whatever it takes to win, especially in the state tournament.
“We have a chance this year to go as far as we can,” Matsumoto said. “Let’s just put all the dice in. We were shocked that Gee Scott was playing corner at Eastside Catholic. We’ve gotta have the same mentality. Whatever we’ve gotta do to win.”
It helped that Johnson intercepted three passes a day prior when he was playing safety in practice. Against Monroe, he nearly had an interception.
“We just want to do what it takes to win,” Johnson said.
UP NEXT
Monroe’s season comes to an end. The Bearcats finish with a 9-2 record, losing to Ferndale in the regular season before the state tournament loss to Lincoln.
Lincoln will host No. 5 Bellevue — the defending state champion — in the state tournament quarterfinals at Lincoln Bowl, date and time TBD. Bellevue crushed Mead in the opening round, 41-10. Bellevue’s Wing-T will present a unique challenge.
“It’s gonna be a nightmare,” Matsumoto said, laughing. “We’re gonna have headaches. That was my goal in the offseason, to study how to defend the Wing-T better. I visited some different coaches. We feel better about what we’re going to do. Now we just have to execute and get them ready.
“This year, we’ll have no regrets. I did my part, in terms of studying. I really pushed the kids and we’re really going to be methodical in terms of how we practice (defending) the Wing-T and if we lose, they’re just going to be a better team than us.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 7:07 PM.
