SHINNSTON -- Andrew Perine rambled for 258 yards on 26 carries Saturday night, leading Lincoln to an exciting 22-16 Big 10 Conference victory over Lewis County.
Both teams now have 1-3 records after the hard-fought contest.
"We have been talking all week about getting the monkey off our backs. We really felt we were much better than 0-3, because we had chances to win two of those losses. We are young (only six seniors) and we have made some key mistakes in the early games, but tonight we overcame all that and made the plays we had to for the win," Lincoln coach Jim Lopez said.
Perine's big night overshadowed a very efficient performance by Lewis County quarterback Chase Ruble, who connected on 10 of 12 passes for 93 yards, with one of his incompletions being a drop. The sometimes chaotic game included a combined 551 total yards from the two teams but also eight turnovers.
Lincoln's Daniel Huffman opened the scoring at the 6:04 mark of the first quarter, plunging in from the 1. His score capped a game-opening 11-play, 65-yard march. Luis Brunetti's point-after kick staked the Cougars to a 7-0 lead.
Lewis answered with a 3-yard Ruble score on the final play of the first period. The score came right after a botched punt exchange by the Cougars that gave Lewis the ball at the 3. It was the only time all night Lincoln lined up in punt formation.
The conversion from Alden Butcher tied the game at 7-7.
Butcher gave the Minutemen their only lead of the night at 9:39 in the third quarter, plowing in from the 2. His second PAT of the night put the advantage to 14-7.
Perine answered with the momentum-changing play of the contest, bursting down the left sideline for a 79-yard score with 4:28 left in the third quarter. On the play, he appeared stopped within 5 yards of the line scrimmage but broke a tackle and then outraced two Minutemen.
Lincoln scored the game-winner with 5:37 left as Perine sprinted down the right sideline from 12 yards. The score was set up by a 26-yard run by Perine. On the conversion, Cougar quarterback and placement holder David Wray turned a fumbled snap into a circus cross-field two-pointer.
Ruble completed five passes on the ensuing drive, marching Lewis County to the Cougar 9 inside of two minutes, but a fumble off a screen pass completion ended the threat. An intentional safety by the Cougars in the final seconds produced the final score.
