SAN JOSE — Sixteen seconds changed the course of Lincoln-San Jose’s season.
The Lions were staring defeat in the face in their 28-21 CIF Northern California regional championship win against Gridley, trailing by a touchdown late.
Then Michael Whitelaw crossed up his defender on a double move, running free for a 64-yard touchdown catch from Lucas Papoulias.
Then Lincoln forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff.
Then Kyan Phillips, battling through a bruised knee, stumbled 17 yards through ankle tackle attempts from multiple Gridley defenders for another score.
Like Phillips, Lincoln simply refused to go down. And after Lincoln the 28-21 lead on Phillips’ TD with four minutes to go, the Lions’ defense got a fourth-down stop on their own 40-yard line with 1:33 left.
It was so close the officials had to measure. The verdict?
Lions ball.
Then Phillips put Gridley’s season on ice with back-to-back runs, gaining one final first down to salt the game away.
The NorCal championship win was the first of Lincoln coach Kevin Collins’ 33-year coaching career at the San Jose school, and it came one week after the Lions won their first Central Coast Section title across town at San Jose City College.
Check back for updates to this story.
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