Third in a series this week on San Diego Section teams’ Southern California playoff matchups.
III-AA
Lincoln rallied down the stretch with five consecutive victories and now is 10-4 after it appeared to be sliding into the abyss.
Coach David Dunn explained that injuries and other problems left him without enough players to take on Cathedral in the midseason, necessitating a forfeit by the Hornets, who also forfeited their opening game to Bloomington.
The Hornets changed gears the following week in a 24-14 win over Madison.
Lincoln began relying more on running back Carlito Nothaft, who was called on 77 times in the first nine games but carried the ball 90 times in the last five. Nothaft has 1,201 yards and 15 touchdowns. Raymond Spriggs (1,866 yards, 18 touchdowns) and Chris Davila (783 yards, 11 TD’s) both saw action at quarterback.
Cal Preps.com is predicting a 40-27 win for 12-2 Culver City, which will host the Hornets in a 7:30 kickoff Friday night. The computer entity is more impressed with the Centaurs’ statistics.
Greek mythology described a Centaur as a beast with the head, arms, and chest of a man but the legs of a horse. This specimen relies on its arms, those of sophomore quarterback Zevi Eckhaus, who has passed for 3,122 yards and 46 touchdowns, and junior Nick Lucero, who has passed for 13 touchdowns and took over when Eckhaus missed two games. Wide receiver Kevin McGuire has caught 62 passes for a 17.1-yard average and 18 touchdowns, and five players have at least 29 catches.
Culver City averaged 44 points and scored 612 in its first 14 games. Lincoln has a more modest 34.8 average and 417 points (not including the two forfeits).
Lincoln competes in the arguably stronger San Diego Western League with Cathedral, St. Augustine, Madison and Point Loma. The Centaurs are aligned in the Southern Section’s Ocean loop, which includes league champion Lawndale, Hawthorne, Beverly Hills, El Segundo, and once powerful Santa Monica.
Lawndale won the teams’ head-to-head meeting, 37-36, and Palos Verdes Estates edged Culver City, 34-27.
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Cal Preps.com assigned Culver City a 47.4 rating…the Centaurs are ranked 32nd in the state by Max Preps and they are not in Cal-Hi Sports’ top 50…Lincoln also is outside the top 50 and is given a 41.5 rating by Cal Preps.com and is slotted at 68th by Max Preps…Culver City played St. Augustine here in 1952, a year after the Centaurs opened their doors, and the Saints, 2-5-1 that season, took a 14-6 decision…Culver did not renew acquaintances here until Point Loma signed a home-and-home agreement that ran for four seasons, 2004-07…coach Mike Hastings’ Pointers were 38-12 during this period but could get only a 2-2 split with the Centaurs, who won the last two games, 40-13 and 54-35… the Dunn-coached Hornets are making their first Southern California playoff appearance and last won a San Diego Section title in 2012….
Great piece on Caver football.
Thank you. I went to Lincoln but always have followed the Hilltoppers, Cavemen, Hillers, and Cavers.