Dallas - Madison player hurdles defender in a rivalry matchup between South Dallas campuses.
(© 2019 Miss Ari Photography)
Dallas - In a rich tradition between long-time rivals, Dallas’ Lincoln and Madison High School football programs converged on John Kincaide Stadium Saturday evening in what was hoped to be a competitive battle for four quarters.
The Madison Trojans scored first and would continue to score at will against Lincoln for the duration of the game. Jaylin Thibodeaux passed for 219 yards and five touchdowns for Madison. Two of Thibodeaux's scoring passes went to Christian Henry, who was consistently able to expose the Lincoln secondary.
Madison (3-0) began their onslaught of offense with a first quarter 33-yard touchdown pass from Thibodeaux to Henry. On the ensuing Lincoln possession Eric Jefferson recovered a fumble at the Lincoln 22 yard line. Just two plays later, Thibodeaux would pass 19 yards to Jayleen Record for another score.
Thibodeaux launched a long ball to receiver Dedric Kinney to put Madison up 21-0 before halftime.
The third quarter was complete with two more Thibodeaux touchdown passes and several more Lincoln possessions that didn’t involve advancing the ball down the field.
Lincoln Tiger fans grew restless in the stands early into the third quarter, when it became more than evident that Lincoln’s offensive strategy was not working.
One bright spot for the Tigers was senior running back Timothy Antoine, who netted 113 yards on 25 rushes Saturday night. He was in fact, the only offense for Lincoln, as the team appeared poised and committed to the run.
”Knowing that our kids feed off of coaches energy, we must go into next week with a positive mindset,” says Lincoln assistant coach Steven Harris. “After losses like these, I hold myself accountable and tell my student athletes that I’ve got to do a better job of putting them in situations where they can be successful.”
Lincoln (0-3) scored its only points with 3:09 remaining to avoid the shutout. The final score of 34-6 did not go over well with Tiger fans, including an abundance of alumni in the stands.
“More than anything else, the relationships we build with our players will help them to be successful in life even when there are disappointments in football,” says Harris.