Joey Sinclair, Lincoln outpace Capital in 3A Narrows shootout, 71-46

Lincoln and Capital combined for 117 points Friday.

Call it an offensive onslaught or porous defense. But when the final horn sounded the fourth-ranked Abes had outpaced the Cougars for a a 71-46 victory for their third consecutive win to start the season.

Lincoln (3-0, 1-0 Class 3A Narrows League) pulled away late, but Capital (0-3, 0-1) kept it within striking distance until late in the fourth quarter.

Lincoln coach Masaki Matsumoto, also the team’s defensive coordinator, loved how well his offense played.

But he was more disturbed by the 46 points his team allowed defensively than thrilled with the 71 points his team scored.

“That’s just because that’s how my mind thinks,” Matsumoto said.

“But I told the team right away that it was my mistake … just not keeping them accountable more in practice and toward the end of the third quarter I pulled the starters too soon. I took the blame.”

Still, Lincoln’s offense more than made up for it.

Though Capital did its best to keep up.

The first touchdown of the game was for 67 yards, followed by touchdowns of 85, 67, 64, 30, 43, 43, 50, and 66, with some mild-mannered seven, five, two, nine, 14, 16, 16 and 11 yard touchdowns mixed in between.

Lincoln junior quarterback Joey Sinclair was 22 of 32 passing for 423 yards and six touchdowns, the best game of his career in his first year starting after Jordan Kitna moved with his father, former Lincoln alumni/coach/NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, to Texas.

“I just studied the defense,” Sinclair said. “That’s what it came down to.”

Lincoln receiver Alvin Johnson had seven catches for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

Capital’s Willie Broxton Jr. had 21 carries for 194 yards and three touchdowns, while freshman quarterback Grant Erickson, filling in for the injured Cody Jenkins, was 19 of 27 passing for 258 yards and three touchdowns.

Broxton’s 64-yard touchdown run on Capital’s opening possession of the second half cut Lincoln’s lead to 28-26, but Lincoln responded with four unanswered touchdowns, including Sinclair’s 30-yard TD pass to Tony Archie on fourth down.

“(Sinclair) runs the ball well, and he throws a great ball and it’s hard to stop those things when they also have a great running back,” said Capital coach J.D. Johnson. “They have all the pieces to be successful.”

Lincoln led 28-20 at halftime of what already seemed like a high-scoring game. Only that was just the start.

Capital scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone, including Erickson’s 50-yard touchdown pass to Christopher Schnellman to end a streak of four consecutive Lincoln touchdowns. Erickson then found Smith for a 16-yard score the next drive to cut the lead to 56-40 with 7 minutes, 32 seconds left to play.

And with the way these offenses were working, that was plenty of time.

Only Sinclair hit Marcus Wiley on Lincoln’s ensuing drive for a 43-yard pass followed by a 16-yard touchdown throw to Wiley, pushing Lincoln ahead 64-40 and putting Capital away for good.

“I don’t think any defense can stop us in the state,” Lincoln’s Johnson said.

“But even though we put up 71 points, it’s not a very satisfying win. The defense didn’t play that bad, but they could do better.”

The offense, certainly couldn’t have.

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 10:36 PM with the headline "Joey Sinclair, Lincoln outpace Capital in 3A Narrows shootout, 71-46."