Cardinals rule, but barely — Lincoln stops Franklin at the end to win 48-43

Lacey catches 3 TD passes, including go-ahead score, and then comes up with gave-saving interception

By Steve Brandon

The Portland Tribune, Oct 23, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

Lincoln safety Ryan Lacey (left) and Franklin receiver Jordan Bird battle for a pass near the goal line with less than a minute to go in Friday's game. Lacey came away with an interception to preserve the Cardinals' 48-43 victory.

L.E. BASKOW / THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE

The game looked like it would come down to which team had the ball last.

It turned out to be a case of which player had the ball last — was it Franklin receiver Jordan Bird or Lincoln safety Ryan Lacey?

With the Quakers driving for the potential winning score in the final minute Friday night, both players went up for Franklin quarterback MacIan Epley’s fourth-and-6 pass from the Lincoln 29-yard line. Both had their hands on the ball while they were still in the air. Both landed at the 4. Lacey popped up with the ball in his hands. The officials ruled it an interception.

And Lincoln won 48-43 in a wild PIL 6A game at the Quaker Bowl.

“I had it the whole way,” Lacey said. “He was trying to fight for it at the end and rip it away.”

The decisive play came with 54 seconds left, and Lincoln just took a knee twice to run out the clock to improve to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in league.

Franklin dropped to 4-3 with its first home loss and 0-2 in league.

But the Quakers fought gallantly and were Lincoln’s equal at moving the ball.

Franklin led 7-0, then gave up 28 straight points before closing to within 28-14 at the half.

The Quakers scored two touchdowns in the third quarter but missed the second extra-point kick, leaving them behind 28-27.

Lincoln scored, and then Franklin scored, and the game was tied 35-35 after three quarters.

Cardinal running back Nate Kirkpatrick’s 1-yard run with 8:35 left put the visitors back on top 42-35.

Franklin, however, drove 65 yards in eight plays for another TD. Epley completed a fourth-and-5 pass to Bird and scrambled 24 yards on third-and-19 to the Lincoln 31. Then Epley hit tight end Tyler Azurdia over the middle for a 31-yard touchdown with 4:43 remaining.

The Quakers, down 42-41, went for the 2-point conversion, and Epley scored on the QB draw.

Lincoln returned the kickoff to its 41 and went back to work. A draw play to Kirkpatrick went for 25 yards. Then he ran for 9, 13 and 4 yards.

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