By Darrel Wheeler
Big Lincoln completed their 2022 football season with an impressive State Championship victory over the number one ranked, open division perennial power-house, De La Salle.
Check De La Salle’s resume and you will find multiple State Championships and years of bonafide dominance. The game could have been billed as David vs Goliath, with Lincoln being David.
“Our coaching staff knew about De La Salle’s legacy so we definitely had a certain respect for them. But our players didn’t seem very impressed by all that legacy stuff. They had total confidence in their own abilities and they believed a state title was their destiny,” Head Coach David Dunn shared.
The Hornets had to play eight private and one charter school on their way to championship glory.
Losing only one game 14-7 to Alemany (Mission Hills, CA). In that game, the Hornets were penalized 27 times and four of their touchdowns were called back. Go figure.
“Against Alemany, we were on their turf and it was obvious the referees didn’t like us. But this is the kind of stuff we have been dealing with for years when it comes to inner-city schools vs private schools.
The way they treated us was nothing short of robbery. It prevented us from going undefeated on paper, but we still feel like we had an undefeated season.”
The Alemany “not so mighty” Warriors finished their season 3-8 including a 42-0 shutdown loss to Sierra Canyon, the team Lincoln defeated in the Southern Section Championships.
In spite of all the obstacles that come with running a football program, the Hornets were able to persevere.
”We have to convince parents and students that Lincoln isn’t the way some people try to portray us,” Coach Dunn shared, “Of course, we can’t be perfect but there’s issues at every campus and if something negative happens here it gets magnified. But our academics are solid and we send plenty of kids to college every year,” Dunn emphasized. “Kids are starting to ignore all the negative talk about us and come here and enjoy the Lincoln Hornet experience.”
A big congratulations goes out to Big Lincoln’s players, alumni, administrators, students, and coaches for their well-deserved, first State Championship football title!
