You know the feeling.
The red, gold and black scattered throughout the crowd.
The setting sun tucked behind the Tulsa skyline to the west.
Scott Starr's voice echoing through Dennis Byrd Stadium.
All of that and more return Friday, when the two-time defining state champ Lincoln kicks off the 2025 season at home vs. Victory Christian.
"Obviously, I am excited for our kids because they have been working extremely hard to prepare for this moment," said Lincoln head coach Jerry Ricke. "I think the first game usually comes down to conditioning, special teams, and who makes the fewest mistakes. I hope we are very good in each of these areas."
After capturing the program's 4th state title last December, Lincoln will look to move its current win streak to 29 straight, dating back to the start of the 2023 season.
And they'll do so at the familiar Willie George Field, where the Bulldogs have not lost in 2,904 days.
Yes, that's right — 52 straight home wins, an incredible streak that approaches eight years this season and dates back to September of 2017.
The Bulldogs return a majority of starters on both sides of the ball, looking to three-peat as the favorite in Class 3A.
They'll begin the campaign against Victory in the return trip, after blanking the Conquerors 56-0 in last year's season opener.
Victory missed the 2024 playoffs, finishing 4-6, but are under new leadership this fall.
New head coach RJ Wakeley, a former standout quarterback at Victory, enters his first season as head coach.
"Victory has a pretty young team, but they have some good young talent," said Ricke. "I'm sure they will be excited to get their season started so we need to match their intensity. They have capable running backs and receivers, and a QB who does a good job getting them the ball. We need to establish the run game early to get control of the game's tempo."
Lincoln's win in 2024 was only the second meeting ever between the two programs.
The two teams had not played scene 2013, where the Bulldogs upset the undefeated Conquerors 27-26 in the 2nd round of the playoffs at Victory Christian.
Along with Lincoln's 28-game win streak and the 52-game win streak at home, the Bulldogs also have won 26 regular season games in a row.
The Bulldogs have won 64 of the last 65 regular season games, dating back to September 2018.
Lincoln is 78-4 across the last six seasons, which includes the three state titles, two state runner-ups and a semifinal appearance.
The Bulldogs are also 89-6 since the start of the 2018 season.
Last week, Lincoln hosted 6A-2 Piedmont in a scrimmage at home in the final preparation for the kickoff of the 2025 season.
"I thought we did some things very well and that Piedmont exposed some things that we didn't do so well," Ricke said. "We need to execute on some things offensively. The first scrimmage usually exposes some timing issues, and I thought we needed to improve there. We also need to establish the run game sooner. We started pretty slow running the ball, and I would like to see us be more physical earlier."
"Defensively, it was hard to gauge because of the offense we were going against. We didn't really make too many adjustments because we wanted to see our guys play our base defense. We need to work on some of our run fits and tackling, and I hope to see that this week."
Ricke and his team have had a good week of practice in preparation for Victory, as the team's focus has shifted to a game-week mindset.
"We have had a good week of practice. I thought Tuesday could of been a a little better, but our experience and leadership helped us bounce back on Wednesday with a really good, physical practice. Our guys are excited to get started, and they are taking nothing for granted," Ricke said.
Victory Christian School @ Lincoln Christian School
Friday, Aug. 29 — 7 p.m.
Willie George Field at Dennis Byrd Stadium — Tulsa, OK
3rd meeting in all-time series — Lincoln leads 2-0
WATCH HERE: https://fan.hudl.com/usa/ok/tulsa/organization/5318/lincoln-christian-high-school/watch?b=QnJvYWRjYXN0MjY0OTk5Mw%3D%3D
OFFENSIVE PREVIEW
Lincoln returns a host of playmakers, along with five starters on the offensive line, which should allow the Bulldogs to hit the ground running in 2025.
Senior quarterback Carter Ricke returns to lead the high-octane offense that averaged 49.5 points per game in 2024.
The Bulldogs averaged Lincoln racked up 461 yards of total offense per game last season, while punting just nine times and scoring 48 or more in 10 of 14 games.
He completed 75.5% of his passes and threw for 2,879 yards and 43 touchdowns, while throwing just nine interceptions in 14 games.
Ricke had the 6th most passing yards and 3rd most passing touchdowns in a single season in school history. He also had the 2nd highest completion percentage in a single season all-time at Lincoln, just 0.02% behind his brother and now quarterbacks coach, Chase.
The Bulldogs will lean on junior Braeden Baker and sophomore CJ Wright in the run game, as both are back after flashing their athleticism in 2024.
Baker rushed for 893 yards and 17 touchdowns, leading the team last season. He averaged 8.4 yards per carry, while also catching 21 passes foe 392 yards and four touchdowns.
Wright was an electric freshman, averaging 10.2 yards per carry en route to 716 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. He will be used as a receiver as well in his sophomore season after catching 17 passes for 336 yards and six touchdowns in 2024.
Junior Brett Kaste, sophomore Caleb Peterson, senior Hudson Farris and sophomore Brayden McMullen will also see time and action at receiver for Lincoln to start the season.
The Bulldogs return all five starters on the offensive line, led by juniors Lincoln Torres and Colt Monsey at the tackle spots.
Fellow junior Kaden Claybrook will start at center and be bookended by seniors TH Harrell and Carson Elix.
Victory will start just two seniors on defense, one of which is a key player at outside linebacker in Ethan Aeschleman.
Sophomore Dom Loera (6-foot-5, 220) is a player to watch on the defensive front for the Conquerors.
The top defensive back for Victory junior safety Scotty Beach. The Conquerors will start six underclassmen on defense.
Last season, Victory allowed 32.4 points per game defensively.
DEFENSIVE PREVIEW
Victory will have its' hands full with a Lincoln defense that returns eight starters from last year's championship unit.
The Bulldogs allowed just 10 points per game last season defensively. Lincoln also had four shutouts and allowed eight points or less in over half of its' 14 games.
It starts up front for Lincoln, where all three starting junior defensive lineman return from a year ago.
Rain Ragland leads the bunch after a stellar sophomore year, leading the team with 11 sacks and racking up 50 tackles, including nine for loss.
Lincoln Torres is back, as well, after 42 tackles and two sacks a year ago.
Colt Monsey also returns after an emerging sophomore season in which he totaled 36 tackles and five sacks.
Senior linebacker Connor Rowlett will slide inside after a breakout junior year outside.
Rowlett had 45 tackles last season, including six for loss and four sacks.
Baker and Kaste are retuning at safety after playing big roles in the secondary against the pass and run in 2024.
Baker is the leading returning tackler after collecting 56 stops a year ago. He also had seven pass break-ups.
Kaste had 29 tackles last year to go along with four interceptions.
Farris also returns at corner for Lincoln, after totaling 32 tackles and a team-high 12 pass break-ups as a junior in 2024.
Sophomores CJ Wright and Isaac Beisel are expected to step into larger roles defensively this fall. Wright played and started down the playoff stretch for Lincoln last season.
Victory will have a mostly new cast offensively, starting seven underclassmen and just two seniors.
The Conquerors will be without standout running back Dallas Dyer for the opening game of the season.
Dyer is recovering from an injury suffered last season after he scored 12 touchdowns and averaged nine yards per carry.
Sophomore running back Blake Bartmann will look to take on his role after he averaged 6.7 yards per carry as a freshman.
Sophomore quarterback Brandon Flowers steps into the starting role for Victory and will look to two targets in the passing game.
Loera at tight end and Beach at receiver protect to be Flowers' top targets early on in what is expected to be a balanced attack under Wakeley.
