Patriots

STANFORD - Zach Johnson has just been waiting his turn. The Lincoln County senior has been the No. 2 golfer for the Patriots the last few seasons, now he's getting his shot as the team's No. 1 golfer. It's a challenge Johnson was looking forward to. Everybody always likes to be the one-man, be the leader of the team, but, yeah, I was excited,” said Johnson, who shot a 42 Tuesday in Lincoln's 157-185 loss to Danville at Dix River Country Club. “I've been playing pretty good, shooting around par or under par about every time.

By Nancy LeedyLIBERTY - Trenton Edgington and Carl-Lewis Cummins combined for eight 3-pointers as Lincoln County shot its way past Casey County 69-31 Friday night.Lincoln (18-12) made good on 16 of 29 attempts from 3-point range, with six different players stepping behind the arc for triples as the Patriots closed out the regular season. Edgington had four treys for 12 of his game-high 16 points and Cummins tallied all of his 12 points from 3. Jacob Conway also went long for Lincoln, draining three treys for his nine points, Timmy Taylor and Shade Jacobs had two 3s each and Micah Ward, who finished with 11 points, nailed one 3-pointer.While Lincoln's 16 treys falls way short of the state single-game record of 41 (Jan.

STANFORD - It was another tough night for the Lincoln County football team Friday as the Patriots dropped their fifth straight game. Lincoln started strong. Deon Shannon sprinted 41 yards to the end zone on the game's first possession and quarterback Ryne Otto connected with Hunter Mason for a 36-yard scoring strike for a 14-0 first quarter lead.   But just when it looked like the Patriots were in control and headed for their first win of the season, Lincoln stumbled and the Cardinals came back with a fury, scoring 21 unanswered points in the second half to defeat Lincoln 21-14.

HARRODSBURG ? Missed opportunities may have cost Lincoln any shot at the postseason. The Patriots failed to convert twice inside the Mercer 5 and turned the ball over five times on three fumbles and two interceptions Friday as the host Mercer Titans rolled to a 35-9 win, their first victory of the season. With the win, Mercer (1-8) improves to 1-2 in Class 5A, District 7 while Lincoln (1-8) falls to the bottom of the five-man district with an 0-3 record. Senior quarterback Tre Dunn helped lead Mercer to its first win, throwing for two touchdowns and scrambling for another after recovering his own fumble.

STANFORD - If Lincoln County is to be successful, Trenton Edgington has to be on the floor. He knows it, his teammates know it, and his coach definitely knows it. So Edgington admits he is a little shocked when coach Jeff Jackson lets him have a seat on the bench, no matter how brief. “I like being out there all the time. Coach always says that we play better when I'm on the floor, so I've tried to stay on the floor,” Edgington said. “And I've been getting fouls like crazy this year, so I've been trying to stay out of foul trouble and staying on the floor.” It's not uncommon to see Edgington not come out in tight games.

His team missed its first eight shots and turned the ball over three times in the first few minutes. Still, Danville coach Craig Pippen wasn't about to panic. "We were just overanxious," Pippen said. "We came out flat against Casey County and Harrodsburg (in previous games). Tonight we came out with energy and emotion, but that caused us to rush our offense. But we were playing high-octane defense and knew eventually the offense would come. " It did. After starting the game 0-for-8, Danville made 25 of its next 39 shots, a 64 percent mark, and coasted to a surprisingly easy 69-44 victory over Lincoln County Friday night.

Lincoln County clinched its second straight regular-season district title Friday night by not only beating, but shutting out one of the state's leading offenses. Pulaski County had been unstoppable coming into Friday's homecoming game, averaging 42 points and over 500 yards a game while rolling up seven straight wins. Then the Lincoln defense introduced itself. The Patriots corralled Maroon quarterback Chris Muse, one of the state's leading rushers, and toppled previously unbeaten Pulaski 28-0 at Death Valley.

After an open week, the Lincoln County High School football Patriots return to gridiron action this Friday night. Coach Larry French and the Patriots will go on the road Friday, traveling a few minutes north on U.S. 27 to Lancaster where the rival Garrard County Golden Lions await. Garrard Coach Steve Stonebraker and his Lions come into the matchup at 1-1. The Lions opened the season with an 18-6 win over Barren County but were on the losing end of a romp last Friday as Paris rolled 46-7.

If you ask Keith Kidd, it would be hard to root against New England in the Super Bowl on Sunday. "How can you not pick the Patriots?" Kidd said Tuesday. "They've had an incredible season. " Kidd, an NFL analyst for ESPN.com, worked in the front office with the Patriots when New England won back-to-back Super Bowl titles from 2003-04. Kidd also has spent time with the Cleveland Browns and the Arizona Cardinals. For obvious reasons, Kidd said he likes the Patriots because of the team's personnel, namely Tom Brady.

The "zone" rattled Lincoln County Friday. It wasn't the mysterious happenings of the "Twilight Zone" that haunted Lincoln on the hardwood but rather the trappings of Boyle's zone defense. Boyle used the zone defense effectively on its home court in the first quarter Friday, rolling out to a 20-7 lead over the visitors. However, Lincoln would not bow to the Boyle defense. The Patriots found a way to beat the Boyle zone and started hitting their shots while picking up their own defensive pressure as they defeated the Rebels 62-51.