Sage Surratt, Cordel Littlejohn lead Lincolnton victory at East Lincoln
DENVER, N.C.
East Lincoln did all it could to ruin Sage Surratt’s homecoming.
Behind Surratt and Cordel Littlejohn, though, it was Lincolnton that pulled out a 42-35 victory Friday night at David Clark Stadium to snap a five-game losing streak against the Mustangs.
Littlejohn threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns, and ran for two more TDs and a key 2-point conversion run late in the fourth quarter for the Wolves, ranked No. 16 in the Sweet 16.
Most of the receiving damage was caused by Surratt, who played three seasons at East Lincoln before transferring during the summer.
Surratt had a season-high 20 catches for 173 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winner – a 12-yard toss in the corner of the end zone with 13.5 seconds remaining. He entered the game with 32 catches for 461 yards and four TDs.
Surratt also had touchdown receptions of 6 yards in the first quarter and 2 yards early in the fourth.
Littlejohn also had a 27-yard TD pass to Langdon Givens late in the second quarter, followed by a 2-point run by Xavier McClain that put the Wolves ahead 22-21 at the half.
While East Lincoln had its problems offensively, it still managed to stick with Lincolnton behind quarterback Marcus Graham.
With the Wolves holding the Mustangs’ passing game in check – 3 of 10 for 29 yards, with two interceptions – Graham was able to do damage with his legs. He ran for 174 yards on 15 carries, with one touchdown, a 16-yarder in the third quarter.
Chandler Jones added two 1-yard TD runs in the first half, Jaylen Frazier added a 97-yard kickoff return for a score in the first quarter, and Trevor Childers had a 1-yard TD run in the fourth that gave East Lincoln a 35-34 lead with 7:38 remaining.
Records: Lincolnton 6-0, 2-0 Southern District 7 2A; East Lincoln 5-1, 1-1.
Worth mentioning: McClain finished with 86 yards rushing for the Wolves, and Littlejohn had 59 rushing yards, including scoring runs of 1 and 29 yards. … East Lincoln wideout Cam Dollar, a Charlotte 49ers commit, was held to one reception for 4 yards. He entered the game as Lincoln County’s receptions leader with 29 catches for 615 yards and nine TDs.
What’s next: Lincolnton will travel to Bandys next Friday for a SD7 2A game; East Lincoln has a conference game at Bunker Hill.
Lincolnton 14 8 6 14 – 42
East Lincoln 14 7 7 7 – 35
First Quarter
EL – Chandler Jones 1 run (Ryan Shanklin kick), 7:04.
L – Cordel Littlejohn 1 run (Sam Taylor kick), 2:41.
L – Sage Surratt 6 pass from Littlejohn (Taylor kick), 1:01.
EL – Jaylen Frazier 97 kickoff return (Shanklin kick), 41.2.
Second Quarter
EL – Jones 1 run (Shanklin kick), 3:13.
L – Langdon Givens 27 pass from Littlejohn (Xavier McClain run), 1:05.
Third Quarter
L – Littlejohn 29 run (kick failed), 3:32.
EL – Marcus Graham 16 run (Shanklin kick), 1:11.
Fourth Quarter
L – Surratt 2 pass from Littlejohn (kick blocked), 9:52.
EL – Trevor Childers 1 run (Shanklin kick), 7:38.
L – Surratt 12 pass from Littlejohn (Littlejohn run), 13.5.
This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 11:31 PM with the headline "Sage Surratt, Cordel Littlejohn lead Lincolnton victory at East Lincoln."