SOMERSET — Southwestern quarterback Drew Sawyers threw for one touchdown, ran for two more and returned an interception for a score to lead the Warriors to a 55-7 win over visiting Lincoln County Friday at The Reservation.

Sawyers completed 6 of 8 passes for 109 yards and rushed for 170 yards on nine carries as Southwestern racked up 500 offensive yards to keep its perfect record intact. The Warriors stand at 8-0 on the season, 2-0 in Class 5A, District 7.

“Take nothing away from those guys. They are a great team. And very well coached. Coach (Larry) French does a great job,” Lincoln coach Spencer Crutchfield said of Southwestern. “But we didn’t do a good job preparing this week and that’s on me. We have to do a better job of preparing and getting ready to play. We didn’t come out ready to play and the score indicates that. You get beat 55-7, you didn’t show up.”

Lincoln (5-3, 0-2) was held to just 215 yards total offense. The Patriots had 123 rushing yards, with leading rusher Darius Napier leading the ground game with 61 yards on seven carries. He was also on the receiving end of three passes for 24 yards. Quarterback Bryson Yaden completed 12 of 27 pass attempts with three interceptions for 92 yards.

The Lincoln defense managed to hold Southwestern on its first offensive series. The Warriors got to the Patriot 40-yard line on the opening possession before they were forced to punt. Southwestern would not punt again, scoring on each of its next seven possessions to earn the lopsided win.

Chase Doan, who ran for 115 yards on 11 carries, capped off the Warriors’ second drive with a 34-yard touchdown run. Max Brainard followed with the first of his seven point after kicks for the night. On their third possession, the Warriors drove 62 yards in one play, with Sawyers taking the first snap straight up the middle and to the end zone for a 13-0 lead. Southwestern led 20-0 at the end of the first quarter, with a 57-yard, seven-play drive culminating in a 9-yard touchdown by Doan with just 57.5 seconds left in the period.

Doan and Sawyers were two of five Southwestern backs who used their speed to amass 391 rushing yards. Connor Crisp ran for 57 yards on six carries, Dylan Bland had 30 yards on three carries and Giddeon Brainard had 19 yards on three carries.

“They are very athletic. We knew that coming in. They have five or six kids that can run really well. We knew that coming in and knew we had to swarm, and we didn’t do that,” Crutchfield said. “Defensively, we didn’t swarm. We didn’t get to the football. We allowed them to get on our linebackers and run right downhill at us. And when they can run, you know they’re putting pressure on you. We definitely didn’t play assignment football.”

Lincoln did interrupt the Southwestern scoring surge early in the second quarter. With 10:07 left in the first half, Yaden hit Sawyer Carrier for a 6-yard touchdown pass to prevent the shutout. Loren Melton added the point after kick to make it 20-7.

The Warriors allowed the Patriots no closer.

Southwestern had just two offensive drives the second quarter, but came away with three more touchdowns. After a touchdown pass from Sawyers to Christian Bach was nullified on a penalty, Sawyers ran 37 yards down to the Lincoln 2 then pushed the ball in on the next play. Two minutes later, Sawyers was back in the end zone, returning an interception 41 yards to the goal line. An interception on Lincoln’s next possession set up the Warriors’ final score of the half. Xavier Streeter got the pick off Yaden and, six plays later, Dylan Bland carried the ball in from the 8-yard line to make it 41-7 at the half.

Southwestern tacked on two more runs in the second half. JP Vaught pulled in a 40-yard touchdown pass from Sawyers midway through the third quarter to invoke the running clock. Then, with 1:41 to play, Connor Crisp scored on a 2-yard run for the 55-7 final.

“This is definitely not a good feeling,” Crutchfield said of the loss. “It doesn’t make you better, but you definitely have to learn from it and get better.”

The Patriots have one last chance to notch a win in district play, with South Laurel coming to Death Valley Stadium Friday night.

“It’s important for our kids confidence to get the win,” said Crutchfield. “We want to get rolling. They (Cardinals) are definitely a good team. We’re going to have a challenge on our hands. We have to get ready to go. We have to get better.”

“The real season starts the first week of the playoffs. If you can win and keep winning, you may get shot at playing these guys (Warriors) again,” he said. “Definitely have to make sure we get better and improve.”

Hunter Combs led the Lincoln defense with nine tackles, six solos.

at Southwestern
Lincoln 0 7 0 0 – 7
S-western 20 21 7 7 – 55

Scoring
1st Qtr
Southwestern: 7:08 – Chase Doan 34-yard run (Max Brainard kick).
Southwestern: 5:19 – Drew Sawyers 62-yard run (Run failed).
Southwestern: :57.5 – Doan 9-yard run (Brainard kick).

2nd Qtr
Lincoln: 10:07 – Sawyer Carrier 6-yard pass from Bryson Yaden (Loren Melton kick).
Southwestern: 8:56 – Sawyers 2-yard run (Brainard kick).
Southwestern: 7:00 – Sawyers 41-yard INT return (Brainard kick).
Southwestern: 1:44 – Dylan Bland 8-yard run (Brainard kick).

3rd Qtr
Southwestern: 6:34 – JP Vaught 40-yard pass from Sawyers (Brainard kick).

4th Qtr
Southwestern: 1:41 – Connor Crisp 2-yard run (Brainard kick).

Game Stats
LC SW
Rushing 26-123 32-391
Passing 12-27-2 6-8-0
Yards 92 109
Total Off./Yds 53-215 40-500
First Downs 11 14
Fumbles/Lost 0/0 1/0
Penalties 3/25 10/80

Individual Stats
Rushing
Lincoln
Darius Napier: 7 carries, 61 yards.
Levi Daugherty: 5 carries, 24 yards.
Bryson Yaden: 9 carries, 20 yards.
Rodney Alcorn: 1 carry, 13 yards.
Dylan Burchfield: 4 carries, 5 yards.

Southwestern
Drew Sawyers: 9 carries, 170 yards, 2 TDs.
Chase Doan: 11 carries, 115 yards, TD.
Connor Crisp: 6 carries, 57 yards, TD.
Dylan Bland: 3 carries, 30 yards, TD.
Giddeon Brainard: 3 carries, 19 yards.

Passing
Lincoln
Bryson Yaden – 12-27-2, 92 yards, TD.
Receiving
Nick Harris – 3-38 yards, TD; Darius Napier – 3-24; Sawyer Carrier – 2-15, TD; Zack Hazlett – 3-12; Troy Gowins – 1-3.

Southwestern
Drew Sawyers – 6-8-0, 109 yards, 1 TD.
Receiving
JP Vaught – 3-78 yards, TD; Christian Bach – 1-18; Mason Parsons – 1-8; Xavier Streeter – 1-5.