No. 1 Lincoln raced out to a huge lead in the opening round of the Class 3A playoffs on Friday night, as the Bulldogs took care of Jay 62-8 at Dennis Byrd Stadium.

The Bulldogs scored seven touchdowns in the opening 14 minutes and led 56-8 midway through the 2nd quarter, as Lincoln looked impressive on both sides of the ball.

It was the 25th straight win for Lincoln, dating back to last year's undefeated state championship season.

The win was also the 46th consecutive win at home for Lincoln, as the last home loss came in 2017.

"Our guys prepared very well all week," said Lincoln head coach Jerry Ricke. "You can just tell that there is more of a focus because it is the postseason. Our guys were locked in before the game and that really showed early in the game."

Lincoln (11-0) ran 28 plays in the first half, with 26 of them resulting in a first down or a touchdown.

The Bulldogs had 419 yards at halftime, with the starters playing around a quarter and a half.

"I thought our guys all looked sharp," Ricke said. "We were very efficient and Carter was able to spread the ball around to a bunch of different receivers. We know that will need to be balanced down the road and I thought we have shown that the last two weeks."

Ricke was sharp, indeed.

After throwing just two passes last week in the heavy rain, Ricke was impressive in his first playoff game as the starting quarterback.

The junior was 14-of-15 for 253 yards and six touchdowns, spreading the ball around to five different receivers for scores.

Lincoln also ran for 277 yards as a team in the win, averaging 9.9 yards per rush in the win.

"I really like where we are offensively at this point in the year," Ricke said. "We've got some dynamic playmakers and have found a bunch of different ways to get them involved. We talk about efficiency all the time, we try to practice as efficiently as possible. I think you see that emphasis on Friday nights."

Defensively, it was another tremendous performance from coordinator Jeff Comfort's unit.

The Bulldogs held Jay in check during the opening half, holding the visitors to just a single first down and 0-of-8 on 3rd down, as the starting unit exited in the middle of the 2nd quarter.

"I thought we executed well last night," Comfort said. "We flew to the ball and tackled well. We had a great week of preparation and the attention to detail showed up in each player's performance on Friday."

Jay completed just 1-of-10 passes in the first half for just a yard and had 92 yards rushing, with 65 coming on the lone scoring play of the night for the visitors.

Lincoln forced a 3-and-out to open the game and wasted no time scoring on offense.

Ricke connected with Jack Milligan for a 43-yard score on the first offensive play of the night to go up 7-0 with 10:35 left in the quarter.

Jay went backwards again, punting after three plays and giving the ball back to the offense.

Lincoln needed just three plays to score this time, as Ricke ran for 20, then completed a 13-yard pass to senior receiver Kylan Schultheis to set up a 10-yard touchdown run by freshman running back CJ Wright.

The score made it 14-0 with 8:54 left in the 1st.

After Jay was forced to punt again following three plays, the Bulldogs went to work through the air again.

Senior running back Dawson Fullingim ran for 10 yards to start the drive, before Ricke found Milligan again for 14 yards to set up the next score.

The junior QB found sophomore running back Braeden Baker, who was lined up in the slot as a receiver in an empty set, for a 14 yard touchdown.

Lincoln led 21-0 with 6:24 in the opening quarter.

The defense pushed Jay backwards again, forcing another 3-and-out to extend the lead shortly after.

Ricke connected with Schultheis for 21 yards to get inside the Jay 30, before finding the senior again, wide open for a walk in 29-yard score.

The 4th touchdown pass of the evening gave Lincoln a 28-0 edge with still 4:04 to go in the 1st quarter.

Jay opted to go for it on 4th down on the following possession, but was turned back by the Lincoln defense, as the constant pressure from the Bulldogs' defense forced a high throw to the receiver, who was smothered up by corner Hudson Farris.

Lincoln took advantage of the short field, as three plays later, Ricke found Schultheis again over the middle for a 20-yard score.

It was 35-0 with just under a minute to go in the 1st.

As Jay was near a first down on the ensuing possession, senior Mason Torres hit Jay quarterback Bradee Rutherford to pop the ball loose, allowing a pack of Dogs to recover.

"Turnovers are huge in the playoffs and to get two of this last night were big plays," Comfort said.

It was one of many plays made by the outstanding senior class on the night, including efforts from Torres, Schultheis, Fullingim, Milligan, Luke McCants, Zac Bastian, Creed Nail and others, as Ricke and his staff recognize how special the group has been.

"I'm just really proud of this group," Ricke said. "They have helped our team be much closer this year with all of their leadership. They understand our culture and have helped teach that to the younger guys. Winning is a by product of hard work and attention to details and I think you see that in this group of seniors."

Speaking of McCants, Ricke found the senior tight end two straight times on the next two plays, a 16-yard connection followed by a 12-yard score.

Ricke's 5th touchdown toss of the night and McCants' 3rd score of the year made it 42-0 with 11:15 remaining in the 2nd quarter.

The defense wasn't done creating turnovers just yet, however.

On the first play of the following drive, Wright stepped in front of a Jay pass after heavy pressure form the Lincoln front seven.

The freshman ran the interception back 10 yards to set Lincoln up just outside the Jay 30.

Three plays later, Ricke got the ball back to Wright, as the freshman caught the pass and outran the defense down the Lincoln sideline for another Bulldog touchdown.

The lead had extended to 49-0 with 10:18 still to go in the 1st half.

Jay didn't go down without fighting, however, as on the first set of downs on the following drive, Rutherford broke free on 4th and 1 for a 65-yard touchdown to get the Bulldogs on the scoreboard.

But Lincoln would of course answer.

Lincoln took over after the failed onside kick and immediately moved it into Jay territory.

Baker broke loose for a 41-yard run to set up another score, as three plays later, Fullingim bulldozed over a group of Jay tacklers for an 11-yard score, his 9th of the season.

Lincoln led 56-8 at halftime.

The lone scoring drive of the second half came on the opening possession for Lincoln.

The Bulldogs got a 27-yard kick return from Maverick Rea to set up shop near its own 40.

Lincoln ran six times to convert, as freshman quarterback Brayden McMullen capped off the drive with a nice 38-yard touchdown run down the home sideline, making it 62-8.

The Bulldogs finished the night with 24 first downs and 530 yards offensively.

Schultheis had five grabs for 90 yards in the win. Milligan caught three passes for 62 yards and McCants had the two grabs for 28 yards.

Baker had three carries for 65 yards, while Gabe Huntsinger ran six times for 61 yards.

McMullen had three attempts for 48 yards on the ground and Evan Jameson had five carries for 43 yards.

Jay finished the game with 135 yards on 51 plays. They were also just 2-of-12 on 3rd downs and had four first downs in the loss.

Cooper Housley was outstanding on special teams, as he was perfect on extra points and had seven of eight kickoffs go for touchbacks.

Lincoln will host No. 10 Pauls Valley next week in the second round, as the Bulldogs play the final game of the season at home.

"We will have a great challenge in front of us in Pauls Valley as they gave an outstanding running back, receiver, and quarterback," Ricke said. "They fly around to the ball in defense and that has helped them get to this point."

"Our guys know the finality that can come with the playoffs so I'm sure they'll be locked in all week. I know they are looking forward to the opportunity."

Kickoff on Friday is at 7 p.m.

Photos by Lee Talley