Lincoln High School’s Junior Curtis knows how to turn it on at the right time.
The senior bound for Oregon State broke free for his second 300-yard rushing game in row, leading the top-seeded Hornets to a 49-35 victory over fourth-seeded San Marcos Friday night in the CIF San Diego Section Division 1 semifinals at Lincoln High School.
“It means a lot to me tonight,” said Curtis. “I put my team on my back, I play for them. I couldn’t do it without them.”
The Hornets (10-2) will play No. 2 seed Granite Hills Division 1 final to be held next Friday night at Southwestern College. It will be a rematch of the 2023 Open Division Final when the Eagles edged Lincoln, 27-26.
Coming on the heels of his 307-yard, three-TD performance in the Hornets’ quarterfinal win over Poway, Curtis broke free of 320 yards on 31 carries and four touchdowns.
Curtis got things going for Lincoln early. His three-yard TD came on the heels after the Knights (7-5) turned the ball over on downs at their own 31. He carried on five of the six plays for the 7-0 lead.
San Marcos came right back with big pass plays by quarterback Kreet Makihele. His 26-yard scoring to Ezekiel McIntyre and 39-yard strike to Cutter Vorhees gave his team a 14-7 lead after the opening quarter.
The Knights went into the half leading 28-21 as Makihele had a hand in a pair of second quarter TDs. First, he ran it in from the 8 with 43 seconds left in the hal. Then, a turnover gave them the ball back quickly. Makihele was on the other end this time, taking a toss from McIntyre around the left side and went in from the 19 with just over nine seconds left in the half.
Even though the Lincoln defense allowed 35 points, it was their big second-half plays which made the difference. They forced four second-half turnovers, two interceptions and a pair of fumbles, including Alvin Gaston’s scoop and score with 5:27 left in the game.
Jaeveyion Allen had an interception and recovered a fumble recovery for the winners, which Courtney Miller-Thompson added a pick.
“We really want to make up for two years ago,” said Oregon-bound Prince Tavison. “We lost to them (Granite Hills) that year.
“I’m very fortunate that I will be playing for a title every year during my high school career.”
The Hornets amassed a total of 461 yards on the ground. Besides Curtis’ 300-yard night, Rashad Robinson rushed for 85 yards on eight carries and freshman Caleb Johnson added 56 yards on eight carries.
Curtis scored on runs of 3, 8, 5 and 1 yards. Robinson added TD runs of 2 and 52 yards.
The Knights’ Carson Monagan made things exciting at the end, returning a kickoff 75 yards to cut the Lincoln lead to a TD with five minutes left in the game.
“We played well in the first half, but not in the second,” said San Marcos coach Tom Carroll. “You just can’t turn the ball over like that.”