Lincoln starts fast and beats Madison 42-14 to advance to Division 1 championship: 5 observations

The Lincoln Hornets wasted no time making an opening statement in Friday’s game against Madison, scoring on a 54-yard touchdown run by Roderick Robinson on the opening possession.

CLAIREMONT MESA, Calif. -- The Lincoln Hornets wasted no time making an opening statement in Friday’s game against Madison, scoring on a 54-yard touchdown run by Roderick Robinson on the opening possession. The Hornets led 28-0 less than a minute into the second quarter on their way to a 42-14 win over two-seed Madison in the San Diego Section Division 1 semifinals.

ROBINSON SETS THE TONE

Lincoln junior running back Roderick Robinson ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s playoff win and did his best to replicate that performance on Friday.

On the Hornets’ first drive of the game as they neared midfield, Robinson gathered the handoff, went left, and exploded through the hole as he escaped defenders while cruising down the Madison sideline for the first touchdown of the contest.

“We were locked in this whole game,” Robinson said. “We did not let up on the pressure, we kept our feet on their necks, and we just played all four quarters to high intensity.”

After forcing Madison into a three and out, Robinson repeated his heroics, rushing for a second touchdown of over 50 yards before turning around to see that a holding penalty had been called.

Later in the first quarter after a tipped interception by Jahlil Florence, Robinson added his second score of the night, this one from one yard out.

Robinson also scored the only points of the second half when he caught the toss with just over two minutes remaining and ran 11 yards around the left side, building the Lincoln lead back to 28 points.

IT WAS OVER WHEN

Madison put together two strong scoring drives in the second quarter, sandwiched around a Lincoln muffed snap that was recovered by Madison. After the Warhawks scored to cut the lead to 28-14 with just over a minute remaining in the first half, it seemed likely that Lincoln would take their two-touchdown lead and a knee into halftime. Instead, the Hornets dialed things up and got just past midfield with ten seconds left to play before the half.

Senior quarterback Jalen Daniels looked for his speedster, Jalil Tucker, down the middle of the field and found him, just as he crossed into the end zone for a 47-yard touchdown completion. The score put the Hornets back up by 21 points and kept a struggling Madison offense out of reach.

TALE OF TWO GAMES

Lincoln and Madison squared off in week ten with Madison edging out Lincoln, 14-10, in one of San Diego’s top games of the regular season. Friday night went much different. Lincoln had 21 points by the end of the first quarter after scoring only ten all game a few weeks back.

“Yes sir, we came prepared,” running back Roderick Robinson said postgame. “We knew what we had to do. It was our get back, coming out here and doing what we did in practice, it was a perfect picture, and it was supposed to happen.”

Madison settled in defensively, limiting Lincoln to one score in the second half but could not find their offense for all but their two drives in the second quarter.

“We needed to bring our heart,” Florence said. “We need to go play for one another and play for the Southeast community and not just the team.”

SWARMING DEFENSE

Madison junior quarterback Reggie Johnson entered Friday’s semifinal having only thrown two interceptions all season. Lincoln forced him into three interceptions during the game, returning two of them for touchdowns.

“Our line was getting pressure to the quarterback and making them throw under pressure and we show love to our line by getting interceptions,” Oregon commit Jahlil Florence said.

Madison didn’t pick up a first down on an offensive play until almost midway through the second quarter. The Warhawks benefitted from a roughing the kicker call in the first quarter that awarded them a first down. Following their free first down via roughing the kicker, Madison put the ball in the air but saw it end up in the hands of junior defensive back Josiah Cox who took off and ran 45 yards for a touchdown.

“Energy all over the field was tremendous,” Florence said. “Offense and defense we were getting it done on both sides of the ball.”

LINCOLN WILL PLAY FOR THE TITLE

With the win the Hornets advance to next Saturday’s Division 1 Championship game, taking on Helix at Escondido High School. Lincoln was in the same situation in 2019, losing to Oceanside, 28-10.

“It really is a big deal,” Jahlil Florence said of playing for a CIF championship. “We’ve prepared for it for a long time. We’ve fought a lot of adversity, people had us going down, but you know we’re proving people wrong, and we’ll keep going step-by-step.”