Recap & Top prospects: Lincoln vs Newberg

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are many talented high school football players and teams in Oregon, yet I could only attend one Friday night game last week. I decided to watch Newberg against Lincoln in Lincoln's brand new football stadium last Friday, and the game didn't disappoint. In this article, I will recap some of the top prospects and the scoring from Newberg's 35-0 victory against Lincoln from last Friday, September 8, 2023.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Lincoln Cardinals played their inaugural game in their brand new and renovated football stadium at home against the Newberg Tigers last Friday, September 8, 2023. Entering last Friday's game, the Newberg Tigers were ranked by OSAA as the second best out of 44 6A teams in the state of Oregon. Lincoln on the other hand were ranked by OSAA as the 25th best squad in 6A. The Tigers offense was too powerful and was resilient all game long. Lincoln got shut out by the Tigers. They lost to Newberg with a final score of 35-0. Despite the fact that Lincoln struggled offensively, their defense showed out. Additionally, Lincoln impressively blocked multiple of Newberg's attempted PAT's. Junior Paddy Ryan had a huge sack near the end of the second quarter, which electrified Lincoln's home crowd. The big man, Paddy Ryan, sacked Newberg's starting quarterback, junior [player_tooltip player_id='1103732' first='Cole' last='Thomas']. The play resulted in a 14-yard loss for Newberg.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first quarter of the game was interesting, as Lincoln fumbled twice, and both of those fumbles were recovered by Newberg. Lincoln initially fumbled on their own 12-yard line. It was 0-0 after the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Newberg's Nolan Dikeman broke open the scoring by making a 19-yard touchdown reception. Following that touchdown, Newberg surprisingly went for a 2-point conversion instead of a PAT. The Tigers completed the 2-point play, which put them up 8-0 early in the first.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Newberg went into the half with a commanding lead of 15-0. With 5:50 remaining in the third quarter, Newberg's Isaac Heveron, who is a versatile running back and defensive back, made an interception. That same drive, the Tigers scored again on a seven-yard rushing touchdown from running back [player_tooltip player_id='511296' first='Walker' last='Hilton']. This score extended Newberg's lead to 21-0 with 1:37 left in the third quarter. Newberg's PAT was blocked after Hilton scored. At the end of three, Newberg held a three possession lead of 21-0. To start off the fourth quarter, Newberg scored again on a rushing play that extended their lead to 28 points with 11:47 left in the fourth. Shortly after this touchdown, the Tigers got possession back again. With 9:04 remaining in the fourth quarter, Newberg scored again. This touchdown by [player_tooltip player_id='511296' first='Walker' last='Hilton'] extended Newberg's advantage to 35 points. There were some trick plays too. Newberg's [player_tooltip player_id='402420' first='Parker' last='Sellner'], a 6'1 185-pound wide receiver, was a part of a couple of trick plays. Sellner was a part of a double sweep play with 1:28 on the clock in the second quarter which resulted in a touchdown. During this play, Sellner threw a 43 yard bomb towards the back of the endzone to one of Newberg's best tight ends, Nolan Dikeman.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Newberg's quarterback, [player_tooltip player_id='1103732' first='Cole' last='Thomas'], finished the game with over 100 yards, and no interceptions. Lincoln's starting quarterback, junior Liam Eldridge, finished the night with a final stat line of 35 yards and one interception. Eldridge also completed five of 13 passes thrown. Newberg's win improved the Tigers to a record of 2-0, while Lincoln fell to a record of 0-2 on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Outstanding prospects from the game:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"[player_tooltip player_id='1103732' first='Cole' last='Thomas']","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2025","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"6'0u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"2409","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Newberg","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Stats: 113 yards, two touchdowns, 0 interceptions.u003cbru003eu003cbru003e[player_tooltip player_id='1103732' first='Cole' last='Thomas'] is a 6'0, 162-pound junior quarterback and defensive back for Newberg. Thomas had a spectacular performance on Lincoln's home turf last friday. He finished the game with 113 yards, and two throwing touchdowns. Thomas is a confident quarterback who has an arm. He is quite accurate, and has no problem throwing the ball deep. One thing that Thomas should continue to work on is his patience in the pocket. Oftentimes during Newberg's game last friday, Thomas had some crucial offensive incompletions that could have been big plays, but were incompletions because Thomas would overthrow his receivers. As he overthrew his target multiple times during the game. Thomas is a strong quarterback who has a lot of potential. He helped lead his team to a stunning 35-0 shutout win against the Lincoln Cardinals and he played a solid game overall. Expect huge things from quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1103732' first='Cole' last='Thomas'] and Newberg this season.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_1_player_details_player_name":"Nolan Dikeman","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_1_player_details_graduating_class":"2024","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_1_player_details_height":"6'1u0022","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_1_player_details_position":"2407","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_1_player_details_school":"Newberg","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_1_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_1_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_1_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"Stats: 65 yards, two touchdowns.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eNolan Dikeman is a 6-1,187-pound senior tight end and linebacker for Newberg. Nolan Dikeman is a name that you'll need to remember. Dikeman is a superstar in the making, as he is a talented athlete who has a complete game. Last Friday, Dikeman showed out and finished the game with two touchdown receptions. Both of Dikeman's touchdowns came in the second quarter. Dikeman is a complete player, who is sizable, fast, and strong. Look out for Newberg's Nolan Dikeman, as he will definitely make a name for himself this season.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_2_player_details_player_name":"[player_tooltip player_id='1091637' first='Emmett' last='Togni']","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_2_player_details_graduating_class":"2024","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_2_player_details_height":"5'10u0022","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_2_player_details_position":"2411","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_2_player_details_school":"Lincoln","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_2_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_2_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"Stats: 95 yards, 13 receptions, five tackles.u003cbru003eu003cbru003e[player_tooltip player_id='1091637' first='Emmett' last='Togni'] is a 5'10, 170-pound senior running back and defensive back for the Lincoln Cardinals. Togni is an impact player for Lincoln and he is one of the Cardinals best athletes. Togni had a great game, and made an impact on both sides of the field as a running back and as a defensive back. He is a true athlete who is extremely versatile. After Lincoln's starting quarterback Liam Eldridge threw a pick in the second half, [player_tooltip player_id='1091637' first='Emmett' last='Togni'] chased down the Newberg player who took off after the interception, Togni made a huge stop, as no other Lincoln player could catch up to Newberg's [player_tooltip player_id='1112727' first='Zadek' last='Bowlby'], who made the interception. Togni finished last Friday's game against Newberg with 95 all-purpose yards including 41 kickoff return yards on two returns. Togni also made an impact on the defensive end for the Cardinals, as he added five tackles on the night.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_3_player_details_player_name":"Isaac Heveron","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_3_player_details_graduating_class":"2024","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_3_player_details_height":"6'0u0022","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_3_player_details_position":"2408","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_3_player_details_school":"Newberg","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_3_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_3_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_3_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"Stats: 75 yards, one interception.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eIsaac Heveron is a 6'0, 190-pound senior running back and defensive back for the Newberg Tigers. Heveron showed out and had an amazing game for the Tigers. He carried the load on offense for Newberg. He is a workhorse, who is also a versatile player that is comfortable playing on both sides of the ball. Heveron will continue to make an impact for Newberg this season. He deserves more recognition, because he is an extremely talented athlete.","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_4_player":["511296"],"_player_evaluations_4_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"Stats: 69 yards, two rushing touchdowns.u003cbru003eu003cbru003e[player_tooltip player_id='511296' first='Walker' last='Hilton'] is a 5,10, 190-pound senior running back and linebacker for the Newberg Tigers. Hilton is one of multiple power backs on Newberg's deep squad. Pregame, Newberg's head coach Jeremy Johnson said that his squad is a “Physical downhill running team,” which is extremely accurate. During Newberg's huge 35-0 defeat of Lincoln last friday, the Tigers excelled at running the ball, and they showed how they truly are a physical team. One thing that stood out to me about Hilton was his stoutness, strength and size. Despite the fact that he isn't that tall, Hilton continuously bulldozed his way through defenders to fight for extra yardage. He is a determined running back who possesses a lot of power.","_player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":5,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64fe887fad336"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In conclusion, Newberg dominated Lincoln, with a final score of 35-0. Newberg and Lincoln are two talented teams, yet Newberg is a more experienced squad. 22 out of Lincoln's 57 players are freshman, while Newberg currently have 0 freshman on their roster. The Newberg Tigers are led by third year head coach Jeremy Johnson, who used to coach the Cardinals. The Lincoln Cardinals are led by first year head coach Cody Schnaufer. Despite the fact that Newberg got a huge win, both teams halted themselves due to recurring penalties. It was an exciting game, and I can't wait to see what both Lincoln and Newberg continue to do this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->