2-A QUARTERFINAL : Lincoln Tops Grossmont in Overtime

EL CAJON —  Sure, Lincoln started with a bang, getting into the end zone on each of its first three possessions, but for some reason, Grossmont had the feeling the Hornets would fizzle.

This was no gut instinct. Grossmont, with 54 players on the roster, knew that Lincoln numbered only 42.

Fizzle? Well, Lincoln senior Victor Dean was in no mood to fade to oblivion. With just under two minutes remaining, he took a punt on his 21, dropping it at first but finally picking it up, and then cut back and forth across the field three times and finally carried it into the end zone to tie the game, 25-25.

Lincoln went on to win, 31-25, on a California tiebreaker. The Hornets scored on two Charles Brown runs from the 10-yard line, and the Foothillers responded by gaining only nine yards on four downs.

“I’m a senior, and this is my last year,’ Dean said afterward. “So I was just trying to do my best . . . and I scored.”

The kicker? Lincoln had only 10 men on the field on Dean’s return.

Despite the loss, Grossmont made a valiant comeback when it looked as though it had already rolled over and was about to die.

That’s when Lincoln started sputtering.

“We’re wearing ‘em down,” coaches were saying on the Grossmont sideline midway through the second quarter with Lincoln holding a 19-7 lead.

Indeed. Lincoln’s offense failed to score the rest of the game. In the meantime, Grossmont’s offense turned into a one-man show starring sophomore Jason Eskridge. Eskridge finished with 128 yards on 23 carries, scoring one touchdown running, another receiving and putting the Foothillers in position for another touchdown (a nine-yarder by Jerome Price) and two Jeremy Chiuchiarelli field goals.

Early on, Lincoln was running to the outside, and successfully so. Brown took a sweep around the left side less than three minutes into the game for Lincoln’s first touchdown. The seven-play drive consumed 59 yards.

After the Foothillers failed to move on their first possession, Lincoln came back and, again going to the outside, put together another scoring drive. Brown, the Hornet’s designated carrier on short yardage, this time capped it with a two-yard run.

Down, 13-0, the Foothillers decided to go for some trickery. A halfback option on a first down from Lincoln’s 30 made it 13-7 with two minutes remaining in the first half. Eskridge clutched the pass from Paul Aceves as he fell to the ground in the end zone.

But Lincoln came right back on another seven-play scoring drive, Brown geting his third touchdown on a three-yard run.

Brown ran five times for 57 yards in the half.