No. 1 Lincoln kicked it into another gear and ran away from Checotah on Friday night, as the Bulldogs pushed its district win streak to 55 straight in a 63-20 victory at home over the Wildcats.

Lincoln averaged over 13 yards per play and had a first down or touchdown on 67% of its plays, as the Bulldogs scored early and often.

Meanwhile, after giving up 20 first half points to Checotah, the defense pitched a second half shutout, allowing Lincoln to pull away.

Lincoln (7-1, 5-0) remained perfect in district play, as the Bulldogs look for the program's 10th straight district title.

The Bulldogs have won 62 of the last 63 games at home and 49 of the last 50 games overall.

"They just know how to put their heads down and play each play individually without letting something negative affect them for too long," said Lincoln head coach Jerry Ricke. "We had to answer Checotah's drives several times, and I thought we attacked them with poise and confidence. Really proud of our older, experienced guys for not panicking and staying steady."

The biggest play came right before halftime, with Lincoln leading 28-20.

Sophomore quarterback Major Brooks, who continues to play excellent football for the Bulldogs, found a streaking junior receiver Caleb Peterson behind the Checotah defense.

Brooks had plenty of time to throw and dropped in a beauty of a throw right into stride for Peterson to catch and score.

The 61-yard touchdown with just seconds left made it 35-20 and was a back-breaker for Checotah, who had played well in the first two quarters.

Lincoln extended the lead midway through the 3rd, when Brooks found his big senior tight end Colt Monsey running with a full head of steam across the middle.

The big man raced 49 yards to the house for his first touchdown of the season and his career, making it 42-20 with 6:55 to go in the 3rd.

"We have to be able to make plays in the passing game. Caleb, Kade, and Colt are really becoming comfortable with Major, and that has helped us be efficient in the passing game," said Ricke.

Lincoln held Checotah on 4th down and forced a punt on the following two drives before the Bulldogs extended the lead once again in the 4th.

Sophomore Max Madrid, who had another huge game for the Bulldogs, followed some great blocking and scored his third TD of the night on a 36-yard run to open the quarter.

The touchdown made it 49-20 with 11:40 to go in the game.

The defense got in on the scoring fun after that, as the Bulldogs added to their lead just four plays later.

Senior Eli Summerlin picked off Checotah quarterback Cole Rolland and the athletic corner knew exactly what to do.

Summerlin caught it off the deflection, flipped the switch to offense and weaved his way through traffic for a pick six, as the 41-yard interception return score with 10:17 to go in the game gave Lincoln a 56-20 lead.

The Bulldogs final score came just minutes later, when Braxton McGinnis carried four times for 69 yards, scoring from seven yards out on the 4-play drive with 6:50 to go in the 4th.

Lincoln ran for 287 yards as a team, averaging 12.5 yards per play, thanks to the return of top lineman and senior left tackle Lincoln Torres, who had been out since the season opener with an injury.

"Lincoln Torres exudes confidence, and that trickles down to the rest of the offensive line. He was dominant at times on Friday, and his leadership makes such a difference for us," said Ricke.

The Bulldogs had 17 first downs offensively, while Brooks was 11-of-16 for 224 yards and four touchdowns.

Madrid had 14 carries for 186 yards, while Peterson caught five passes for 92 yards and two scores.

Kade Wilson had two grabs for 37 yards and a touchdown and Isaac Beisel had a 40-yard catch to set up a Lincoln touchdown.

Defensively, Beisel led the team with 12 tackles, while senior Rain Ragland had a career night, wreaking havoc up front.

Ragland finished with nine tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. Monsey had five tackles and a sack, while McGinnis had eight tackles and junior Maverick Rea had seven stops. 

After Checotah had 220 yards and averaged over six yards per play in the first half, Lincoln shut things down in the second half.

The Bulldogs allowed just 3.4 yards per play, surrendering only 111 yards on 32 plays, forcing three punts, a turnover on downs and taking it away via the interception.

"We challenged our guys to play with more fire, more intensity. We needed to get after their QB, and they responded well," said Ricke. "We tackled so much better in the 2nd half, and we played with much more physicality."

Checotah opened the game on a 13-play, 82-yard drive that took almost six minutes.

Rolland capped off the drive with a 12-yard touchdown score to put Checotah up 6-0.

The Bulldogs answered quickly, however, as Lincoln needed just four plays to score.

Madrid found some green grass and turned on the burners, racing 63-yards to the house for his first score of the night.

The Bulldogs had tied it at 6-6 with 4:26 to go in the first.

Lincoln forced Checotah to punt on the ensuing possession and got great field position, as the Bulldogs would immediately cash in.

Brooks found Peterson on a quick screen down the home sideline.

The Jet did the rest, as the junior simply outran the entire Cheoctah secondary for a 28-yard touchdown.

Brooks connected with Cayden Mathruin on the 2-point try and Lincoln led 14-6 with 1:19 to go in the opening quarter. 

Checotah answered with a TD of its own, as Rolland found top receiver Landynn Thomason for a 26-yard touchdown shortly after to tie the game at 14-14.

But Brooks and Lincoln were just getting started.

The Bulldogs needed just two plays to answer, after Lincoln's Ronan Jones had a 37-yard kickoff return to set up great field position again.

Brooks found classmate Kade Wilson down the visiting sideline on a quick throw and Wilson did the rest.

He raced down the sideline, outrunning Checotah defnders and into the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown.

Lincoln was back ahead 21-14 with 9:17 to go in the half.

"Major does a great job of taking care of the football," said Ricke about his quarterback. "He is not reckless with the ball in his hands. He had some big-time throws that are just almost impossible to defend. I'm just really happy with how he is playing right now."

Chectoah wasn't going away, however, as the Wildcats gained four first downs and answered with a 9-play, 75-yard drive.

Rolland ran it in from a yard out to make it 21-20 with 4:55 to go in the 2nd quarter.

Lincoln reasoned quickly, once again, as Jones had a 27-yard kickoff to get the ball near midfield.

Brooks found Beisel for 40 yards on the first play of the drive to get inside the red zone before Madrid scored on the next play from 11 yards out.

"We got the run game going early and that seemed to fuel the rest of our offense," said Ricke. "We got the benefit of some really good field position thanks to our defense and special teams as well."

The score made it 28-20 with 4:37 to go in the half.

Lincoln got the back immediately, as Mathruin made a great play to pick off Rolland on the first play of Checotah's next drive.

The Bulldogs had to punt of the first time on the night, as the two teams traded punts before Lincoln got it back with just under two minutes to go for the final scoring drive of the first half.

Brooks' long TD to Peterson capped off the 87-yard drive that took seven plays and 1:22 to go into the half up 35-20.

Checotah was just 3-of-12 on 3rd down and scored on just three of 13 possessions.

Meanwhile, Lincoln faced just six 3rd downs and needed just 39 plays to gain 511 yards.

Photos by Lee Talley