By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Tallahassee Lincoln will bring panhandle toughness and a wide-open offense to Kowboys field Friday at 7:30 p.m. for the Class 7A state semifinal showdown against OHS.

Admission is $9.

The Trojans, 11-1, outlasted Oviedo, 35-29, in a thriller last week that saw Lincoln score the game-winning touchdown with 54 seconds left in a seesaw contest that had seven lead changes.

Lincoln quarterback Cameron Joseph found Reggie Davis for a 50-yard touchdown pass play for the game-winner.

Kowboys Coach Doug Nichols said Lincoln is the type of talent-laden team you expect to see at this stage of the playoffs.

“You’re down to the final four; everybody’s going to be pretty good,” he said. “They throw the ball well, probably a little better than they run it, and they play good defense.”

Lincoln’s only loss was to crosstown rival Godby, 40-28. Godby is playing at Tampa Robinson Friday in the Class 5A semifinal round.

Lincoln beat Fleming Island (27-17) and Gainesville Buchholz (34-21), both district runners-up, in addition to Oviedo, in the playoffs.

Joseph has passed for 1,728 yards and 15 touchdowns this season and has a pass completion rate of 57 percent.

Joseph has several good targets in receivers Davis (28-453, 4 TDs), Taj Williams (31-590, 9 TDs) and Myles Gaines (39-565, 2 TDs). All three caught a TD pass at Oviedo.

Williams, at 6-4, also doubles as a defensive back and is being recruited by Alabama and several other D-I programs.

Lincoln, coached by Yusuf Shakir, also has a big play threat from the backfield in running back Ben Robinson (188-1,192, 18 TDs), a 5-7, 165-pound darter.

Nichols said the Trojans run from three- and four-wide sets and that Williams is probably the best receiver the Kowboys have seen this season.

“He’s huge, with some speed. He made a couple of great catches at Oviedo,” Nichols said.

Robinson scored on runs of 40 and 1 yard at Oviedo.

The Trojans average 36.8 points per game, almost identical to OHS, which produces 37.6 points per outing. The OHS defense yields 8.6 points, on average.

Defensively, the Trojans are paced by linebackers James Hearns, a 6-3, 235-pound senior being targeted by Florida (54 tackles), Jeff Williams (51 tackles, eight sacks) and Carsen Combs (64 tackles).

Cornerback Kendall Randolph leads the Trojans with five interceptions, one more than free safety Jameson Blount.

“It’s hard to tell what (defensive alignment) you’re going to see. Newsome showed a 4-4 on the tape we saw and they started that way against us, then they switched to a 50,” Nichols said. “We’ve seen Lincoln in a 4-3 against teams that run the spread and in a 50 against teams that run a lot, like us, but you never know. We could spend all week planning to see a 50 and they’ll probably come out in a 4-3.”

Nichols said Newsome concentrated on stopping Osceola’s leading rusher, Stafon McCray, last week.

“They were pinching down hard inside. We probably should have picked up on that and gone to Tay (Davante Small) and Scooter (Fagan) earlier than we did,” Nichols said.

Small’s 69-yard TD run in the fourth quarter was the margin of victory for the Kowboys. He rushed for 125 yards.

The Kowboys might get defensive lineman Darren Brackbill back this week, two weeks after he strained a medial collateral ligament in his leg. Defensive lineman Jaqwuan Dockery, who sprained an ankle against Newsome last week, will play Friday, Nichols said.

Although Lincoln probably has the best passing game OHS has faced this season, the Kowboys are blessed with talent and depth in the secondary. Senior Hassan Childs made his eighth interception of the season against Newsome, and Brandon Baker, James Farley and Dominic Lee all have the size and speed to run with just about any group of high school receivers.

The Kowboys will still be without sophomore linebacker Riley Nicholson, out since mid-October with a shoulder injury. There is a chance that he could play if OHS reaches the state championship game.

The good news for the Kowboys is that OHS is 3-1 when it reaches the state semifinals, winning in 1982 (Palatka), 1998 (Daytona Beach Mainland) and 2007 (Jacksonville Bartram Trail).

The Kowboys’ only semifinal loss was in 1999 at Springfield Rutherford.