Lincoln erupts in second half, routs Willow Glen to reach first CCS final

SAN JOSE — A week ago Lincoln got its first Central Coast Section playoff win. The Lions made it two wins in as many outings Friday, utilizing a 35-point second half to break away for a 49-14 win over Willow Glen.

Now they have a chance to not only win a third CCS playoff game, but to also capture the school’s first CCS football title. Lincoln (9-3), the third seed, will play No. 1 seed Branham for the Division IV championship.

“That would be nice,” Lincoln coach Kevin Collins said. “I want to coach these guys as long as I can. It’s a special group. We love each other.”

The score was 14-14 at halftime, but the second half was all Lincoln.

Lincoln, using a full house T-formation with two tight ends, amassed 345 yards on the ground on 38 carries.

“We just wore them down,” Collins said. “They had trouble stopping the double tight. We just kind of got after them a little bit.”

Kyan Phillips carried 20 times for 220 yards and three touchdowns on runs of 31, 34 and 53 yards.

“It’s all the blocking of the O-line,” Phillips said. “We’re not making (the defense) guess. Nobody’s been able to completely shut us down yet and hopefully that will continue next week.”

Philips is now over the 1,300-yard mark rushing. He has scored 35 touchdowns, 24 of them on the ground, seven receiving, two on kick returns and two more on fumble and interceptions returns.

He was on the team as a freshman when his brother Tayden, now at Cal Poly, was the star quarterback and the Lions lost to Wilcox in the CCS quarterfinals. The next two years Kyan was the standout on teams that went 3-7 each season. Now as a senior he has a chance to play for a section title.

“It means a lot,” he said. “Hopefully we stay healthy and we can come and do what we did in the second half today.”

Lincoln already played Branham once this season and won 35-25 on Oct. 9.

Quarterback Luca Papoulias completed only one pass, but it went for an 11-yard touchdown to Michael Whitelaw on Lincoln’s first possession of the second half.

Whitelaw came up with an interception on Willow Glen’s next possession and made a long return to set up Phillips’ 34-yard scoring run.

And then on the first play of the fourth quarter Phillips broke his 53-yard TD run. Following in rapid succession, on the second play of the quarter Ryan Berwanger returned an interception 42 yards for another touchdown. Lucas Martinez added a 48-yard run to round out the scoring.

Collins was asked what he was going to do next year with both Phillips brothers gone.

“Cry,” he said.

Willow Glen had its nine-game winning streak come to an end. The Rams lost their top offensive player when quarterback Aiden Akery went down with a knee injury two weeks earlier in the division-clinching win over Sobrato.

Steven Young moved over from running back to take on the quarterback job and led the team to a win over San Lorenzo Valley in the CCS quarterfinals. He completed 18 of 31 passes for 206 yards against Lincoln, but the Lions came up with three interceptions along with sacks by Hudson Buzzard and Mykell Munro.

The Rams took the opening kickoff and went 80 yards in six plays with Young scoring on an 8-yard run. After Lincoln drew even on the first TD run by Phillips, Young passed to Gavin Ferraro on an 11-yard touchdown for a 14-7 lead. Lincoln tied in on a 15-yard run by Papoulias.

“This one got away from us, but I’m super proud of our group to overcome the adversity we had week in and week out,” Willow Glen coach Oscar Caballero said.