St. Johns Fl- It was that type of night for Bartram as they saw everything play out on Friday. First, starting quarterback Riley Trujillo injured his hand in the first quarter and was unable to return. Then, Bartram saw a 31-14 third quarter lead evaporate as Lincoln would tie the game 31-31 on a Kareem Finch touchdown catch and run from quarterback Perry Fisher (Maryland commit).
Forced to improvise on offense because of the injury to their quarterback, Bartram was prepared as they had used Duke commit Eric Weatherly several times at the position this spring, and some in the fall. The speedy athlete responded to the challenge, scoring four touchdowns on the evening.
Weatherly tossed a touchdown, caught a touchdown, and ran two more touchdowns in the contest. His pass to WR Taylor Rhodes put them up 17-14 at halftime.
His short touchdown run gave Bartram a seemingly insurmountable 31-14 lead in the third quarter. The play highlighted an extraordinary night for Weatherly. He truly left it all out on the field.
Lincoln would play a different tune after that score, plucking the Bartram defense like a guitar. Cedric Mardry’s touchdown cut the Bartram lead to 31-21 with 20 second remaining in the third.
Big tackles by Bartram’s defense including big tackle Arion Stith held the Trojans to a field goal early in the fourth quarter. Bartram still led Lincoln 31-24.
Yet Lincoln’s defense would continue to step up and stifle Bartram. A big tackle for loss by DE Mandrell Lewis stopped a Bear drive giving the ball back to Fisher and his offense. After Lincoln tied the game late in the fourth quarter, they found themselves with an opportunity to drive down the field for a potential go ahead score.
With just 1:17 on the clock, Bartram had one shot to score or potential play for overtime. They went for the win in regulation and attempted a throw back double pass play, yet Lincoln would disrupt the play causing a fumble, and D-lineman Devona Brown would return the fumble for the deciding touchdown. Lincoln would win on the late score 37-31 on the road.
Bartram will face Mandarin at Mandarin(1-2) next week, while Lincoln will travel to Mosley (3-0).
