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The Other Lincoln will be the 1st HBCU to Play Spring 2021 Football

A.D. Drew • Feb 19, 2021

The Other Lincoln will be the 1st HBCU to play Spring Football 2021

February 18, 2021
A.D. Drew | Black College Sports Network

Are you ready for some football?  Despite the nation being in the midst of a pandemic, HBCU sports fans have been waiting to tailgate and watch the bands walk to the stadium, and in most places, that will not happen.  Football finally kicks off this weekend!  While all of the hype among HBCU football fans has revolved around Jackson State football since September 21, 2020 and their opening game with Edward Waters since the game was announced last Fall, the first HBCU to hit the gridiron this Spring will be Lincoln.  Before I continue any further with this article, I must inform you that I am speaking of the Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO, founded in 1866 and not the Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania, founded in 1854.

The Blue Tigers kick off on Friday, February 19 at 6 p.m. CST versus Nichols State, a full 43 hours before Edward Waters travels to Jackson, MS to open the Coach Prime era versus the Tigers.  The NCAA Division II Lincoln (MO) will travel to Thibodaux, LA to take on the Colonels, who finished #14 in the FCS coaches poll in 2019.  

The game will be streamed live at https://geauxcolonels.com/watch/?Live=491.  


Per lubluetigers.com, the Blue Tigers offense is led by Hosea Franklin, a Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-American honorable mention and an All-MIAA first team selection in 2019 who broke LU's single-season rushing yard record with 1,359 yards. Franklin had 251 yards in LU's 2019 season opener, the most of any DII player in the first week of the season, and was the only MIAA player to break the 1,000-yard mark that season. Franklin averaged 123.6 yards per game and scored five touchdowns. Tori Hicks, meanwhile, averaged 3.2 yards per carry and also had a score.


LU will have a new quarterback this spring, with returner Desmond Hunter, who had one touchdown pass in limited action in 2019, competing with transfer Josh Cartwright for the starting job. Lincoln returns its top-three receivers, led by Dre'Shon Alston, who had 13 grabs for 119 yards and a touchdown. Chrisshun Robinson also had 119 yards and a score on 10 catches, while Hicks caught 16 passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns. CJ Closser, who averaged 17 yards per reception in two games before suffering a season-ending injury, is also back this spring.


On the defensive side of the ball, Vontavious Thacker is Lincoln's top-returning tackler after making 62 takedowns, including 37 solo, in 2019. TeAndre Skinner, who had 46 tackles and 5.0 tackles for loss, joins Elliot Albert (31 tackles) and Quan Mason (29 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss) as defensive players to watch this spring. On the special teams, Javier Moreno (52.0 yards per kickoff) is back as LU's place-kicker, and is joined by returning long snapper Josh Zakavec and new punter Clayton Winkler.



About The BCSN | The Black College Sports Network is the first online media outlet dedicated to LIVE coverage & broadcasting of HBCU sporting events on a weekly basis. The BCSN is the flagship product of the JERICHO Broadcast Networks (JBN).

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