Lincoln’s season ends with heartbreaking quarterfinals loss to defending champion Bellevue
Lincoln High School football’s undefeated season ended with a heartbreaking loss in the Class 3A state quarterfinals Saturday afternoon in Tacoma.
After the Abes took a touchdown lead late, defending 3A champion Bellevue rallied with a pair of scoring drives in the final three minutes, eventually escaping with a 22-20 win as the sun was setting over Lincoln Bowl.
The No. 4 Abes took their first lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, and held on until No. 5 Bellevue’s Luke Scoma sent what turned out to be the winning 43-yard field goal just over the crossbar with 16.5 seconds remaining.
Lincoln’s impressive season, during which the Abes won a second consecutive 3A Pierce County League title and entered the week with a perfect 11-0 record, came to its heartbreaking conclusion moments later.
The Wolverines opened scoring less than four minutes into the game, when Ishaan Daniels broke down the sideline for an 83-yard touchdown.
Lincoln’s defense held Bellevue out of the end zone until the fourth quarter after that, limiting the Wolverines’ Wing-T attack on several drives.
But, Bellevue took a 7-0 lead into the break after stopping the Abes inside the red zone on two of their four first-half drives.
Lincoln quarterback Gabarri Johnson, the state’s top-ranked quarterback in the senior class, didn’t let the deficit last much longer, though.
“We challenged him, and we knew he would step up,” Lincoln coach Masaki Matsumoto said. “And he did.”
The Missouri commit led the Abes on long scoring drives on each of their first three possessions in the second half.
Lincoln drove down the field on nine plays to open the third quarter, eventually scoring on a 10-yard run by Johnson.
A missed extra point attempt kept the Wolverines in front, but after Lincoln’s defense forced a turnover on downs on the ensuing drive, Johnson again led the Abes to the end zone.
“We had a little drought going into halftime, and we just got fired up in the locker room,” Johnson said. “I just thought it was time to take matters into my own hands, grabbed all my guys, told them, ‘Let’s just play hard until the fourth quarter, until the clock goes out.’ ”
On a third-and-9 play near midfield, Johnson scrambled away from two Bellevue defenders in pursuit in the backfield, sprinted ahead and dodged four more attempted tackles before he was brought down out of bounds at the Bellevue 7 on the heels of a 39-yard gain.
Johnson rushed for the 7-yard score on the following play, on the first snap of the fourth quarter, then converted the two-point try on a pass to Drake Granberry to give Lincoln a 14-7 lead.
Bellevue answered three plays later on a 50-yard run by Carson Rubin, but the Abes blocked the extra point attempt to keep the lead with 10:16 to go.
The Abes took more than seven minutes off the clock with a 14-play scoring drive in response, with Navarre Dixon’s 2-yard run on third-and-goal extending their advantage to 20-13, but the two-point try that could have given Lincoln a two-possession lead late was unsuccessful.
Then came Bellevue’s comeback.
The Wolverines took advantage of a short field on the ensuing kickoff with a quick, six-play scoring drive, which Rubin completed with a 2-yard run.
Lincoln stuffed the Wolverines’ two-point try short of the goal line to stay in front, 20-19, with 55.8 seconds to play, but Bellevue recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt, setting up a chance to go ahead.
“It’s sort of been our Achilles heel,” Matsumoto said. “I don’t know what it is, because I feel like our coordinator puts in a lot of time and we do a good job, but special teams. Whether it’s PAT or not getting that onside (kick). It just came back and hurt us at the right time.”
A long run from Daniels helped the Wolverines reach field goal range, and Scoma’s field goal with 16.5 seconds to play — which at first glance appeared might be short, but sailed just over the crossbar and bounced off the back post — lifted Bellevue to the win.
“We thought we had it, thought we got away, we won, but it turns out he made it,” Johnson said.
Johnson finished 18-of-22 passing for 174 yards, and added a game-high 181 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, accounting for 355 total yards. Lincoln finished the game with 414 as a team.
He finished a remarkable senior season with more than 3,900 total yards and 45 total touchdowns in 12 games.
“He might be the best player I’ve ever seen in person,” Matsumoto said of Johnson’s career with the Abes. “Just the things he did with the ball, and making things happen when things broke down.
“And it wasn’t just every other game. It was every single game that he did that. He’s special.”
Bellevue finished with 331 yards of total offense — all on the ground. Daniels led the way with 168 yards and the one touchdown on 10 carries, while Rubin had 149 yards and the two scores on 20 attempts.
Bellevue (9-2) moves on to next week’s semifinals round. The Wolverines will travel to play top-seeded Yelm (12-0), which topped last season’s runner-up, Kennewick, on Saturday.
This story was originally published November 19, 2022 at 7:29 PM.
