Lincoln Prep opens regular season at D’Arbonne

Lincoln Prep looks to build off an encouraging preseason with its regular season opener at D’Arbonne Woods on Friday.

After shutting out Booker T. Washington and Delta Charter in two preseason scrimmages, the Panthers have shown flashes of a team capable of improving off last year’s 2-7 record. With steady corners in Cenario Wilson and Trey Spann who have taken the ball away, along with improved defensive line pressure, the Panthers will get to test their growth in a challenging non- district matchup with the D’Arbonne Woods Timberwolves.

D’Arbonne Woods finished 8-2 overall last season and has made the playoffs with a record over .500 in each of the last three seasons. Consistency like that doesn’t happen by accident.

“We watched film on them, and they play hard the whole time. They’re well coached. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. You can tell this team has played together for a long time,” Lincoln Prep head coach Glen Hall said. “They’re going to run the counter at you, run the dive, and they’ll run that counter motion and then come back to the other side to try and get you out of position. They’re well coached. We’re going to have to block and tackle. If we don’t, they’re going to run all over us.”

The Timberwolves averaged 33.6 points per game last season and have not lost a regular season home game since Nov. 3, 2022. But if Prep’s defensive improvements are for real, Hall likes the Panthers’ chances to compete.

“We run to the ball. We may not be the best single- tackling team, but we hustle, and we get 11 guys to the ball. They’re playing together,” Hall said of Prep’s defense. “ We’ve been taking good angles and doing things a lot better than what we did last year.”

Offensively, it’s been a mixed bag for the Panthers in the offseason. Against Booker T. Washington, D’Tavion Wright and Jaylin Huntley had multiple carries of 10-plus yards, including a 54-yard score by Wright. But in the Delhi Jamboree against Delta Charter, Prep could not get in the end-zone after making it inside the 15yard line four times.

Hall said Prep has worked on in-game situations and practiced against tighter defensive looks that a redzone package would show.

He hopes a new offensive wrinkle helps Prep’s chances to score.

“We worked on putting in the wildcat in the red zone, trying two or three different guys in the wildcat,” Hall said. “We needed to do something different so teams can’t just focus on D’Tavion Wright. We can get an extra blocker in there now and then we can have D’Tavion or Verlanski Glosson or Jaylin Huntley or you could put a Tyler Wimberley back there.

“I’m taking it out of [ quarterback] Jordan Brown’s hands down there.”

Lincoln Prep faces D’Arbonne Woods Friday on the road at 7 p.m.