No. 1 Lincoln Christian went on the road and took care of business on Friday night, as the Bulldogs overwhelmed Eufaula from start to finish in a 62-0 win.

Lincoln had 567 yards of offense en route to a 49-0 halftime lead, while the defense held Eufaula to just 42 total yards.

The Bulldogs moved to 9-0 on the year and remained not only unbeaten at 6-0 in district 3A-3, but in dominant fashion.

Lincoln has outscored its opponents 341-3 in six district games, as Lincoln clinched its 8th straight district title heading into the final week of the regular season.

The Bulldogs also pushed their win streak to 37 straight, which is still the second longest active streak in the state.

Lincoln has also won 49 consecutive district games and 16 straight road games.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a big lead early, scoring four times in the opening quarter behind another big night from senior quarterback Carter Ricke

The Lincoln defense forced a punt to open the game before the offense got going.

Ricke hit senior receiver Hudson Farris, who had another big night, for 24 yards on the opening play for the Lincoln offense. 

Two plays later, Ricke found Farris again for 26 yards, as the tough speedster broke some tackles and moved it inside the Eufaula 15.

Junior Braeden Baker scored on the next play, barreling over the Ironheads' defense for a 12-yard TD run, giving Lincoln a 7-0 lead with 8:17 remaining in the opening quarter.

After forcing another punt, Lincoln got a short field and made the most of it.

Ricke connected with sophomore Caleb Peterson for nine yards on the opening play of the drive, before Baker found the end zone again.

Ricke found Baker on a screen play down the Eufaula sideline, where the junior weaved, stiff armed and dove over the pylon for a 33-yard score.

"We talk about execution on every offensive rep in practice. It isn't enough to just talk about it, you have to go out there and do it," said Lincoln head coach Jerry Ricke. "I was really proud of our passing game execution, especially off of our RPOs. Our offensive guys take great pride in executing at a high level and you saw that last night."

It was 14-0 with six minutes to go in the 1st.

Lincoln forced another 3-and-out before the offense continued to roll.

Ricke completed passes to Farris and Peterson to move the ball inside the Eufaula 15, before finding a recent favorite target in the red zone for his second scoring toss of the night.

The senior found freshman Kade Wilson wide open over the middle, as the youngster scored his second TD in as many weeks. The 15-yard pitch and catch made it 21-0 with 2:20 to go in the 1st.

The offense didn't have to wait long to strike again, as Eufuala was forced to punt again after just three plays.

Ricke found another newcomer and this time, sophomore receiver Brayden McMullen burst onto the scene.

The senior zipped a pass over the middle, hitting McMullen in stride, where he did the rest, speeding past the Eufaula secondary for a 60-yard TD — the first of his career.

"I'm really proud our receivers that have stepped up and that includes Brayden McMullen, Caleb Peterson, Kade Wilson, Ethan Uyetake and Liam Anderson," said Ricke. "Coach (AB) Stokes has done a tremendous job developing those guys and I really like the depth we are gaining."

Ricke's third TD pass of the night pushed the lead out to 28-0 on the final play of the 1st quarter. 

"These guys have used their opportunities in JV games and practice to help them become more confident and sharpen up their routes. Carter has great trust in all of those guys and that has come from many, many reps with them in practice," said Ricke.

The Bulldog offense wasn't done, after the defense continued to completely shut Eufaula down.

The Ironheads went backwards and hat to punt another time, before Lincoln struck quickly again.

Two plays later, Ricke perfectly worked an RPO before launching a bomb to Farris, who had gtten behind the defense.

Farris caught it and outran the Eufaula defender for a 52-yard touchdown, stretching the lead to five scores with 9:45 to go in the first half.

Lincoln forced another punt after three plays, as Eufaula struggled to get anything going all night.

Ricke connected with Peterson for 28 yards on the first play after the punt before finding McMullen again two plays later.

This time, Ricke lobbed a ball up to the sophomore in the corner of the end zone, where McMullen out jumped a Eufuala defender and wrestled it away, hauling in his second score of the night.

It was 42-0 with 6:26 left in the half.

Lincoln would score once more in the opening half, after the Bulldogs again forced a Eufaula punt.

Lincoln went 69 yards in seven plays, capped off on an 11-yard touchdown run by senior running back Gabe Huntsigner, who totaled 31 yards on the drive.

The senior's third touchdown of the season made it 49-0 with just 1:56 remaining in the half.

Lincoln came out of the halftime locker room and kept the foot on the gas, as the second unit offensively marched right down the field to score.

The Bulldogs needed just five plays — all via the ground — to score their 8th touchdown of the night.

Sophomore Jax Crumbliss ran for 32 yards on the drive and freshman Max Madrid totaled 24 — including a 14-yard touchdown to make it 56-0.

Lincoln's final score of the night came on the final play of the 3rd quarter, as Nate Johnson ran it in from three yards away, after freshman quarterback Major Brooks gained 53 to get the Bulldogs in scoring position.

The Lincoln defense was dominant, as the Bulldogs allowed just 13 rushing yards on 30 attempts, including shutting down Eufaula star running back Peter Lee.

Lee averaged 140 yards per game coming in, but managed just one yard on 17 attempts Friday night. 

"Coach Comfort does a fantastic job of taking the other teams best players away," Ricke said. "I think our defensive scheme and execution has been fantastic all year, including last night. I like our physicality and toughness across the board on our defense. I'm excited to watch those guys continue to get better."

Part of that has been the play of several key individuals defensively, especially sophomore linebacker Isaac Beisel.

The team's leading tackler added five more stops in the win over Eufaula, as well as a sack, as Beisel has emerged as leader for Comfort's defense.

"Isaac is a young man who used his opportunities last year on scout team to help him learn how to be a varsity player," Ricke said. "He was always giving how offensive line fits in practice because of his downhill nature."

"That has translated really well to this year and he has probably exceeded our expectations so far. He is a relentless player that is having the game slow down for him and I think his best football is in front of him."

Ricke was 14-of-16 for 323 yards in the win, while tying a career-high with five touchdowns.

Farris had four grabs for 123 yards to lead the team, while McMullen had two catches for 83 yards.

Peterson added three catches for 46 yards, while Baker caught two passes for 50.

Baker also had four carries for 45 yards on the ground, while Huntsinger added 43 yards on four attempts.

Brooks led the team with 56 yards rushing, while Crumbliss added 32 yards and Madrid chipped in 24 yards on just two carries.

Junior Rain Ragland was the team's leading tackler, as he finished with six stops, two for loss, in the win.

Lincoln had 24 first downs in the win and totaled 244 rushing yards, averaging 9.4 per attempt.

The Bulldogs forced Eufaula into nine punts and held the Ironheads to just 2-of-11 on 3rd downs.

Lincoln also held Eufaula to just 3-of-8 passing for 29 yards.

The Bulldogs will be on the road again this week to wrap up the regular season when they travel to Idabel.

With the playoffs just around the corner, Ricke and his team are just focused on this week, trying to getting better and peak across the next six weeks.

"It's coach speak, but we approach each individual week as the most important game because it is the next game," he said. "Our guys will be 100% focused on Idabel this week."

"I'm sure some of our guys are checking out how other teams are doing as we finish the regular season, but that is the fun of high school football. I want them to be excited about the playoffs as we get into them. That excitement will help us in our preparation as we get ready to travel down to Idabel this week."

Photos by Lee Talley