Lynx back on prowl after disappointing start
Lincoln County’s football team could have fallen apart after a 1-2 start that included a pair of 20-point losses.
Instead, the Lynx responded with three straight wins, and have scored 106 total points in their past two games.
“It took a while for the team to find its identity a little bit,” Lincoln County coach Rich Ottley said. “We’ve found everybody’s role and we’re moving the ball really well.”
Lincoln County (4-2, 3-1 Class 2A Southern) has done more than just move the ball in recent weeks. The Lynx won 52-38 over Needles on Oct. 2 and pounded Agassi Prep 54-0 on Friday.
“We started playing really well as a team,” senior quarterback Eric Rippetoe said. “Everything fell into place.”
No one has been more crucial to the turnaround than Rippetoe, who passed for 133 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Agassi Prep.
“He’s really on a roll,” Ottley said of Rippetoe, who also threw two TD passes in a 32-20 win over White Pine on Sept. 25. “He’s done a good job guiding our offense.
“He’s done a good job with the play-action pass. That’s been one of our strengths — we’ve gotten our run game moving. Rippetoe’s really orchestrating that well right now.”
Rippetoe said he is more comfortable as a senior running Lincoln County’s offense — a combination of spread and Wing-T schemes — and he has developed chemistry with senior receivers Jeremy Avery, Bruce Condie and Zak Campbell.
“When they get into the open field, nobody can catch them,” Rippetoe said. “They outrun anybody.”
After giving up an average of 30.7 points in its first three games, Lincoln County has allowed only 19.3 in its past three.
Ottley said a handful of position changes have boosted the defense, particularly Condie moving from safety to linebacker and Taylor Price from linebacker to safety.
Ottley, whose team visits West Wendover (0-6, 0-4) at 6 p.m. Friday, said the turning point for Lincoln County came in the home win over Needles.
“I think that’s where we turned the corner,” Ottley said. “I think the kids saw what their potential was. If they get a little bit of confidence, they can turn from kittens into lions in terms of believing.”
Ottley said the Lynx are motivated by a disappointing early exit from the playoffs last season.
Lincoln County shared the 2A Southern League regular-season title at 6-1 and entered the state playoffs as the No. 1 seed, only to lose 40-24 at home to Mountain View in the first round.
“We try to use it as a sense of motivation,” Ottley said. “They were really disappointed after winning the league to go out early.”
Rippetoe doesn’t want the Lynx to end this season on a similar note.
“It was hard last year,” he said. “We had the team to take state, but didn’t come out ready to play. We’re trying not to do that this year."
