Lincoln High School Athletic Department

Lincoln used a bruising rushing attack to beat Grants Pass 41-14 on Friday night in Southwest Portland to advance to the OSAA 6A quarterfinals, where the Cardinals will face Sherwood.

After the game, Lincoln coach Wes Warren said that his team is “extremely confident, but very respective” of the two-seed Bowmen that beat Tigard 41-20 Friday night.

The Cardinals grinded for the majority of the game, eating time off the clock. Quarterback Chris Burns threw the ball just two times, with his sole completion being a 24-yard touchdown pass.

Lincoln junior Edmund Slevin carried the ball 29 times for 179 yards and two touchdowns Friday night. He said that it’s very beneficial to this team to have multiple runners they can rely on.

“I can take a break and the team will know that whoever is carrying the ball is a maximum strength gunner,” he said.

Along with a strong offense, the Cardinals have a suffocating defense. After Friday, the Cardinals are allowing just 6.6 points per game.  Last week against Forest Grove, Grants Pass scored 63 points.

“The defense believes in what we do,” Warren said. “They understand all of the little things that it takes on defense. And they make every team earn what they get. They believe in themselves.”

Slevin said that the team gets hyped up on defensive stops, and that momentum helps them on offense.

“It’s like, ‘Let’s get it done. Let’s get ahead,’” he said. “Everyone wants to give their best.”

With one minute, 24 seconds left in the first quarter, Malachai Rodriguez took a handoff six yards to the end zone. This was set up when Dylan Hanley was intercepted by Calum Maloney, who took the ball back to the Grants Pass 13 yard line. It was Hanley’s second interception of the game, the first was grabbed by Ezra Hereth on Grants Pass’ opening drive.

With 52 seconds left in the first half, Slevin ran the ball 13 yards to the end zone, making the score 14-0 going into the half.

To open the second half, the Cardinals grinded down the field before Chris Burns found Brandon Leitgeb for a 24-yard touchdown pass.

Grants Pass finally got on the scoreboard in the third quarter after Cameron Castle ran the ball seven yards, making it a 21-7 game.

Slevin later broke several Cavemen tackles to break out a 54-yard touchdown. But on the following kickoff, Castle took the ball 95 yards to the end zone, making it a 28-14 game.

But Lincoln wasn’t done scoring. After a Grants Pass turnover on downs, Burns took a keeper 28 yards to the end zone. And with just 17 seconds left on the clock, Lincoln made it a 41-14 game after a two-yard run by Ben Hoge.