Pre-season Power Poll #12

#12 – Lincoln Golden Bears

Head Coach: Keith Howard [5th Year]

2007 Record: 9-4 [3rd round loss to Clay County 13-28]

Key Dates in ’08: Etowah – Week 1, Cleburne County – Week 2, Handley – Week 3, Saks – Week 6, Anniston – Week 8, Munford – Week 9, Clay County – Week 10

Star to Watch: D.J Howard – RB – Sophomore

The Lincoln Golden Bears enter the 2008 season with as much hype surrounding the team as they’ve seen for some time. Unfortunately for them, hype doesn’t equal great seasons. Great teams equal great seasons.

This very well may turn out to a great team, but a lot has to play out before that is ultimately determined.

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They’ve got impressive skilled players. From quarterback T.J Hoyt, to tailbacks Tiger Williams and D.J Howard, they’ve got players that can run with anyone else in what should be a rugged region. But with any team, a lot depends on scheduling, and the Golden Bears will face a fierce slate of games over the next few months.

So far, Lincoln has the toughest schedule to date in our list of the top teams in East Alabama. Seven of their 10 games during the regular season classify as key dates, meaning its’ either a rival game or a face-off with a tough opponent.

They kick-off the year with Class 5A’s Etowah, who may not be as deadly as in year’s past, but they still carry a ton of respect especially when facing a team making their move from 3A to 4A like Lincoln is.

Immediately following the Blue Devils, they travel to Heflin for their first official 4A bout of the year. After Heflin they host the team that won this region last year, Handley. Saks and Anniston in the second half of the season are two more roadblocks they must pass to get into the post-season. Just for good measure, they tackle Clay County in Week 10. All this; and we still left out a Week 5 game with Boaz [5A] and another good one with cross-town rival Munford in Week 9, who would love to rain on Lincoln’s parade.

A 9-4 record in 2007 was a big step for this football team. Three years of .500 records [5-5, 4-6, 4-6] was beginning to take a toll on Keith Howard’s reign over the program.

Luckily, the Lincoln faithful stuck with Howard and let him build his foundation.

2008 Schedule:

8/29 – Etowah [H]

9/5 – Cleburne County [A]

9/12 – Handley [H]

9/19 – Childersburg [A]

9/26 – Boaz [A]

10/2 – Saks [H]

10/10 – Central Coosa [H]

10/17 – Anniston [A]

10/24 – Munford [A]

10/31 – Clay County [H]