Box score: San Diego Lincoln 28, Pittsburg 26, California High School CIF State Division 1-AA championship

Oregon bound quarterback Akili Smith Jr. accounts for four touchdowns, Donal Reed III and Junior Curtis each rush for more than 100 yards as the Hornets win their second state in three years

Lincoln players celebrate their second state title in three years at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo after winning CIF Division 1-AA title on Dec. 13, 2024 / Photo: Todd Shurtleff

MISSION VIEJO, CALIFORNIA — San Diego Section power Lincoln flexed its toughness and muscle on the inside en route to a 28-26 CIF Division 1-AA state championship victory over Pittsburg Friday at Saddleback College.

Donald Reed III (126) and Junior Curtis (119) each rushed for more than 100 yards, but neither got in the end zone, leaving that up to senior Oregon signee quarterback Akili Smith Jr., who accounted for all four of his team's touchdowns in a hard fought game to claim the Hornets second state title in three years.

The Hornets (12-2) held the ball almost twice as long as the Pirates (12-3), who were hoping to win their first state title in their 100th year as a program. They got four touchdowns and 263 total yards from Washington State bound running back Jamar Searcy but it wasn't enough.

A missed extra point and failed 2-point conversion is what ultimately was the difference.

Lincoln ran off more than twice as many plays, 64-28, and Abdulahl Sharif intercepted Pittsburg's Marley Alcantara for the first time all year. The 5-foot-7 senior quarterback who came in with nearly 3,000 yards passing, 40 touchdown passes and no interceptions was limited to 149 yards passing as the Pirates were outgained 461-366.

Both teams hurt themselves with penalties, 15 for 124 for Lincoln and 11 for 75 for the Pirates.

After a 7-yard TD keeper by Smith, the son of the former NFL quarterback by the name, capping an 11-play, 80-yard drive (all ont he ground) with 3:44 remaining, the Pirates didn't blink.

They zipped right down the field and Searcy finished off a 9-play, 63-yard drive with a tough 4-yard TD run on 4th-and-2 to close to 28-26. After a timeout on the 2-point conversion try, Alcantara threw a backwards pass to Searcy to the left.

The right-handed throwing Searcy found no one open and was knocked out of bounds at the 2 by Isaih Bartolome with 1:19 left.

With two timesouts, the Pirates held Lincoln 3-and-out and got the ball on its own 44. But as soon as Alcantara received the shotgun snap he was pressured, scrambled and was tackled after a short gain to end the game.

LINCOLN 28, PITTSBURG 26

	PITTSBURG	LINCOLN
First downs	23	26
Rushing yards	217	272
Passing yards	149	189
Passes-attempts-int	15-27-1	8-14-1
Total offense plays-yards	55-366	78-461
Fumble-return yards	0-0	0-0
Punt returns-yards	1-15	0-0
Kickoff returns-yards	3-47	4-76
Interception-returns	1-0	1-0
Punts (number-avg)	4-34.0	3-25.7
Fumbles-lost	0-0	0-0
Penalty yards	11-76	15-124
Possession time	16:24	31:36
Third-down conversion	3-8	7-15
Fourth-down conversion	1-1	4-4
Red-zone scores conversion	3-4	3-5

RUSHING
PITTSBURG: Jamar Searcy 23-196, Marley Alcantara 4-17, Elijah Bow 1-4
LINCOLN: Donald Reed III 21-126, Junior Curtis 28-119, Isaiah Grant 1-15, Akili Smith Jr. 10-5

PASSING
PITTSBURG: Alcantara 15-26-1-149, TEAM 0-1-0
LINCOLN: Smith 6-11-0-173, Jordan Roa 2-3-1-18

RECEIVING
PITTSBURG: Searcy 5-67, Makari Kenion 5-40, Rolph Mosley 2-14, Eligah Bow 2-10
LINCOLN: Courtney Miller-Thompson 4-30, Isaiah Grant 2-119, Ty Olsen 2-40

TACKLES
PITTSBURG: Bow 13, Etene Pritchard Jr. 11, Japheth Tofaeono 10, Jadyn Hudson 9
LINCOLN: Niko Ta'a 8, Cammeron Purrell 5, Abdulahi Sharif 4, Dameian Watkins Jr. 4.

SCORING
FIRST QUARTER
L — Miller-Thompson 6 pass from Smith (Radilla Benavidez kick), 3:06

SECOND QUARTER
P — Searcy 47 run (Capetillo kick), 10:34
L — Olsen 13 pass from Smith (Benavidez kick), 1:43
P — Searcy 2 run (Capetillo kick), 0:12

THIRD QUARTER
L — Grant 77 pass from Smith (Benavidez kick), 9:15
P — Searcy 1 run (kick failed), 5:06

FOURTH QUARTER
L — Smith 7 run (Benavidez kick), 3:44
P — Searcy 4 run (run failed), 1:19