Thin roster doesn't hold back Lincoln

It’s always a game of numbers in football, especially on the scoreboard, but even more so for Lincoln High this year.

With just 28 players on the roster, coach David Dunn knows it would be wise to have a healthy lead going into the fourth quarter when his seven two-way players start to show some wear and the legs get heavy.

Fortunately for the Hornets (2-0), the miniscule roster, which was made even smaller when two starters had to sit out the game after an altercation in their season-opening victory over Serra, didn’t make any difference.

With quarterback Asante Hartzog tossing for six touchdowns, the host Hornets entered the final 12 minutes with a 27-point lead and held on against a Point Loma (1-2) team that simply turned the ball over too often (five times on seven fumbles) for a 40-27 victory.

Hartzog completed 22 of 33 passes for 379 yards.

A zany first half saw Lincoln dominate the first 23 minutes but had Point Loma score twice within 13 seconds with less than a minute to play to take a 13-12 lead.

Hartzog wasn’t finished, though, hitting Micah Edwards who turned the short pass into a 74-yard TD on the final play of the half. Hartzog, who goes by the nickname Tae-Tae, helped give the Hornets a more comfortable lead with three TDs in the third quarter.

Point Loma got a pair of TD runs of 11 and 34 yards by Anthony Quinintella to go with a 124-yard rushing night from Josh Ball to creep back late in the game.