FAYETTEVILLE — LINCOLN - Brad Harris is still looking for a spark for his Lincoln offense in the red zone, but he's pleasantly surprised with his defense near the halfway point of the season.
Lincoln (1-3, 0-1 1-3A) is still looking for an answer inside the 20-yard line entering a 7 p.m. game Friday at Elkins. The Wolves drove inside the 20 three times in the first half last week, but were unable to score in a 21-0 loss at home to Greenland.
"The players were a little discouraged," Harris said. "It was things we did and not necessarily what [Greenland] did. Greenland toughened up on us a little bit. It was a little bit of a setback because we really thought we had a chance against Greenland."
The Wolves held Greenland scoreless in the first half, but quarterback Zach Summers tossed an 80-yard interception to Adrian Rojas, who returned it for a touchdown in the second half. Rojas also added a rushing touchdown with 1 minute remaining.
While the offense struggles, averaging 7 points a game, the defense has improved drastically from a season ago. Despite a 51-12 loss to Magazine weighing them down, the Wolves have cut their scoring defense nearly in half compared to a season ago. Lincoln allows 24 points a game, compared to the 42 points last season.
"I don't know what it is, but they've really bought into it," Harris said.
Coach Jim Meyers switched to a 30-stack defense and the Wolves have thrived. Lincoln's new-look defense allowed 14 offensive points against Greenland and has allowed two touchdowns or less to three opponents early in the season.
Ezquiel Hernandez, who kicked a game-winning field goal and scored a rushing touchdown in a 9-7 win over Westville (Okla.) in Week 1, filled in at middle linebacker for the injured Joey Baker last week and the Wolves didn't miss a beat, Harris said.
As for the offense, the Wolves will look to run the ball more this week against Elkins.
"We've been finessed but we're trying to use our speed in the backfield and be aggressive up front," Harris said.
Elks coach looking for
improvement
ELKINS - Aaron Clark had nothing but harsh words for his Elkins team when reflecting on a 35-6 loss to Lavaca.
Elkins (1-2, 0-1) had just two offensive possessions and 11 snaps in the first half and turned the ball over twice on kickoffs.
"It was one of the worst halves of football I've ever seen at Elkins," said Clark, who is in his 10th year as head coach and 18th overall with the school. "Our defense wasn't ready from the first snap of the ball."
The Elks have struggled since Week 1, losing two games by a combined 71-14 since an open date in Week 2. The mercy-rule loss at Lavaca only hurt matters, but the Elks do get a couple of playmakers back on the field when Lincoln comes to town Friday at 7 p.m.
Returning to the field will be quarterback Robert Teague (deep thigh bruise) and star running back Hunter Guffey (elbow). Both are expected to start. Teague missed action last week and backup Matt Liechner "did a good job," Clark said, but just didn't have many opportunities on offense.
Clark hopes Teague and Guffey can get the offense rolling again as it did in a 42-34 win over Pea Ridge in the season opener.
"I hope they learned that you have to be ready to play every game in this league," Clark said. "I hope we learn something from it. We were a better team than what we showed [against Lavaca]."
Pirates face huge test
GREENLAND - Greenland got a win in its conference opener, but a huge test comes to town on Friday.
Mansfield (2-2, 0-1) isn't exactly the same bunch of Tigers the Pirates beat 34-6 last season. The Tigers entered last week fourth among Class 3A schools in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's statewide rankings before falling 41-21 to No. 1 Charleston.
And with Greenland (2-2, 1-0) struggling at times on offense and defense, coach Tracy Sutton knows the Pirates have their work cut out for them.
"They're very aggressive, very scrappy a good looking group of athletes," Sutton said.
After the Tigers were handed a loss by the Pirates last season, both teams went in opposite directions. Mansfield won six of its last seven before falling to Lamar in the third round of the state playoffs, and Greenland lost four of its last six and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs.
"They were young last year and a lot of those guys are back," Sutton said. "They're very good."
Adrian Rojas and Jeremy Huber stood out last week for the Pirates, who struggled offensively in the first half against Lincoln. Rojas returned an interception 80 yards for a touchdown and added a rushing score with 1 minute remaining in Greenland's 21-0 win at Lincoln.
"Huber did exactly what he was supposed to do all week," said Sutton, who believed Huber may have had the better game even without the two touchdowns. "He was just where he was supposed to be."