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LINCOLN — In his second year as head coach at Lincoln, third year over- all functioning in that capacity, Reed Mendoza is growing in confidence. "I think that each year you learn and you try to grow. I feel like I've done that, just excited about the upcoming year," Mendoza said. Lincoln's secondary and linebacking corps probably have the least amount of experience on the defensive side of the ball and a lot of those guys are still fighting it out. "We probably won't name starters until the Wednesday or Thursday coming into that [Aug. 27] Elkins' game," Mendoza said. OFFENSE Quarterback Sophomore Drew Moore (6-2, 185) has battled senior Kyler Calvin (5-9, 150) for the starting quarterback job. "At quarterback it's looking like it will either be Drew Moore or Kyler Calvin. We'll see how that shakes out. Both offer different qualities," Mendoza said. Runningback Senior Caleb Matthews (5-10, 180), sophomore Nick Martinez (6-0, 190), junior Eugene Hill (5-10, 150), and senior Layne Sellers (5-9, 160) are all getting looks. "At runningback it will definitely be by committee. We've got three or four guys we've been working out. Caleb Matthews, Nick Martinez, Eugene Hill, and Layne Sellers have all taken reps. In the nonconference part of the schedule we'll probably give them all reps and we'll see the two that sepa- rate themselves," Mendoza said. Receivers Lincoln spreads the field and oper- ates at times with four wide outs. Slot receivers senior Lincoln Morphis (6-1, 160) and junior Rafeal Pena (5-6, 145) both guys have a lot of Friday night experience and Mendoza says Rafael offers big play ability. At the outside receiver spots, the Wolves have a lot of guys getting as many reps as they can. Similar to the runningback competition, Mendoza plans to utilize the nonconference schedule to see who separates them- selves and who makes it happen on game nights. S e n i o rs Tr i s t a n G i l b re a t h ( 5 -9, 150), Brennin Davis (6-1, 180), and A.J. Garner (6-2, 155) compete with sophomores Paxton Price (5-8, 125), Ty Burks (5-4, 110), and Jace Birkes (5-9, 130) fighting for those couple of positions and are making each other better through pushing one another. "You see the guys kind of step up who really want it and compete for it every day and it's good to see that because they're just getting better wh i l e t h a t 's go i n g o n ," Me n d oza said. H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H 824-5459 303 W. Pridemore • Lincoln American Drive-In Serving Lincoln since 1958 with H Burgers H Fries H Shakes Proudly suPPorting our local teams! West Washington County CliniC Your family medical home. 2 locations: On the square and 102 E. School Street in Lincoln | 479-824-3196 PO Box 800 (106 Park St.) • Lincoln, AR USA 72744 • 479-824-3196 • Fax 479-824-4397 Susan Portis Ferguson, MD • Jennifer Cheatham, MD • Tera Thompson, APRN Board Certified Family Medicine Wednesday, August 25, 2021 Enterprise-Leader 7C 2 0 2 1 F o o t b a l l P r e v i e w Competition For Spots Sharpens Wolves LINCOLN 2021 VARSITY FOOTBALL PREVIEW By Mark Humphrey ENTERPRISE-LEADER SEE WOLVES PAGE 8C MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Lincoln's 2021 varsity football team tuned up for the upcoming season with a scrimmage against Lamar on Friday. The Wolves open the season this Friday, Aug. 27 at home in Wolfpack Stadium against Elkins in a nonconference game. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.