They say, "Go big or go home."

No other possible Kickoff Week match-up could have have been more epic than Lincoln Christian. The Bulldogs entered the game as the defending Class 3A state champs and a consensus number one in preseason polls. The Chargers were ranked a close second by the pollsters, many of whom predict another title showdown between the two powerhouse programs later in December. But in August, all eyes were on this huge week one match-up.

Known for aggressive play calling, The Hall's head coach Brett Bogert '05 pulled out all the stops early. The Chargers attempted a throwback on the opening kickoff, but the Bulldogs were ready. Facing fourth and short from his own 21 yard line, the gutsy coach dialed up a fake punt, but new quarterback Conner Quintero came up a yard short as he dove near the sideline. 

With excellent field position, Lincoln Christian powered forward into the red zone before a penalty set them back. Facing 2nd and 21, Bulldog quarterback Carter Ricke rolled out and was punished by a blitzing Barrett Travis as he floated a pass toward the end zone. Ball-hawking safety Jerrod Williams, Jr., turned to find the ball, out-jumped the intended receiver, and snagged his first interception of the game at the 1-yard line.

Seeking to gain some breathing room, the Chargers tried to power forward. Travis narrowly escaped a safety by stretching the ball out past his own goal line. On the ensuing play, Quintero took a shotgun snap, found a streaking Williams behind the aggressive Lincoln defense, and hit the speedster in stride for a 99-yard touchdown strike. The pass put The Hall up 7-0 early and set a new school record, breaking the previous 97-yard connection from Andy Bass '24 to Jordyn Harris '24 last year.

On the Bulldog's next play from scrimmage, sophomore cornerback Porter England put a helmet on the ball to knock it loose, and Williams pounced on the fumble. Looking for a knockout punch, the Chargers tried a reverse-pass, but Williams' deep lob to Cal Welker was picked off.

With the Bulldogs advancing into Charger territory, the defense stiffened and forced a turnover on downs.

Slowing down the pace with a more methodical attack and rotating quarterbacks, the Chargers pushed into Lincoln's half of the field. On third and 12, junior quarterback Canon Bronson showed off his passing ability with a strike over the middle, and Williams turned it up field and knifed through the Bulldog secondary to score his second touchdown of the game. With about a minute left in the first frame, The Hall stretched the lead to 14-0 and seemed to have all the momentum.

The Bulldogs pounded the ball forward on physical runs and methodical short screen passes. Then, Ricke faked a reverse hand-off stepped back and took advantage of the fooled Charger secondary on a deep pass to Kylan Schultheis to the 2-yard line. A couple more power runs later, Lincoln's Titan Price found the end zone for an answer score.

The teams traded three-and-out possessions until the Bulldogs took over again on their own 32 yard line with 3 minutes until half. Facing a third down and 14 near midfield with 42 seconds remaining, Lincoln tried to connect on a deep post route that was broken up by England & Williams.

Opting to play it safe and punt, the Bulldogs turned over possession to the Chargers on their own 23 yard line with 26.6 seconds until the break. After a 5-yard penalty, Barrett Travis followed great blocking, made a cutback at the line of scrimmage, and outran everyone except Lincoln's Schultheis who tracked him down at the 5-yard line after a 77 yard run. The dogs called a timeout to set their defense. The Chargers ran two quick out routes that resulted in incomplete passes and faced their final shot with 5.1 seconds remaining.

Quintero took the shotgun snap, scrambled right, and then floated a perfectly placed pass over the outstretched arms of two leaping Bulldogs into the waiting hands of Travis for a score and a 20-7 advantage. A penalty and then a bad snap prevented the Chargers from tacking on the extra point, but they carried a 20-7 lead into the locker room for halftime.

Two minutes into the half, the Bulldogs bit the Chargers on a 43-yard touchdown pass from Ricke to Schultheis to cut the lead to 20-14.

On The Hall's second offensive snap of the second half, Williams took a reverse hand-off from Quintero and cut up the defense for 67 yards to the end zone, but the play was called back for a holding penalty on the Chargers. On third and 16, Bronson connected with Terrance Johnson over the middle on a 15-yard pickup for a first down. Travis followed lead blocking on a 21-yard first down run, but came off the field with leg cramps. On the next play, Quintero was pressured by Lincoln's Connor Rowlett on an edge rush and threw an interception to linebacker Mason Torres that halted the promising drive midway through the third quarter.

Both teams struggled to find a rhythm as penalties mounted on both sides, but the Bulldogs broke through on two plays late in the third quarter. Ricke connected with big fullback Rain Ragland on a quick streak route to push into the red zone, and then bruising tailback Dawson Fullingim powered through two Chargers at the 5-yard to score the tying goal. The extra point kick was good and Lincoln Christian had their first lead of the game at 21-20.

After a Williams reverse for a first down, penalties and a sack derailed the Chargers attempt to answer and the third quarter came to a close.

The Bulldog offensive line continued to get a good push and the visitors advanced the ball near the red zone again. However, when Lincoln went to the air, the speedy Charger pass rush pressured Ricke, and Williams put on his hero cape and came up with another interception in the back corner of the end zone.

The 'dogs defense sniffed out a screen pass to Travis for a big loss and then sacked Quintero at the 6 yard line to force a Charger three-and-out. Punting from the end zone and under pressure, The Hall gave Lincoln an extremely short field at the 24 yard line with just over 8 minutes left in the game.

After giving up minimal yardage on first and second downs, a Chargers encroachment penalty on third and three gave the Bulldogs a first down. Sophomore running back, Braden Baker nearly scored on a counter run to the 1-yard line. Fullingam launched over the pile-up to cushion the Lincoln Christian lead at 28-20 with 6:24 to play.

With no timeouts remaining, the Chargers mustered one first down, but were eventually forced to punt the ball back to Lincoln.

The Bulldogs milked the clock down to three minutes before punting the ball back to the Chargers, who took possession on their own 21 yard line. Facing third and nine, Travis rumbled and lunged forward for 7 yards to set up a fourth down and short. Quintero connected with Williams on a quick pass for a big first down and The Hall neared midfield with under two minutes to play. However, two incompletions and sack later, the Chargers faced fourth and 10 and Quintero's pass over the middle was picked off by Torres to ice the game.

Both sides went big in the opener. Bogert and squad pulled out all the stops to gain a halftime advantage. Arguably, Lincoln's size did matter by the second half as the Bulldogs wore down the Chargers to steal a huge comeback road win in the marquee match up. 

Quintero led the air attack, hitting on 12 of 20 pass attempts for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns, but also tossed two interceptions. Bronson threw less frequently, but connected on 3 of 7 attempts for 63 yards and a touchdown. Williams was the primary target for both QB's on the evening as he tallied 10 receptions for 224 yards and two scores. Travis pounded the ground 11 times for 136 yards, including 78 on one big run.

Defensively, three Chargers finished the game with double-digit tackles – Walker Wedel (11), Graham Murphy (10), and Williams (10). Adding even more sparkle to his stellar night, Williams accounted for three takeaways – 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery.

In special teams play, Beau Butler stepped in for hobbled kicker Cal Welker and knocked in both extra point attempts that were kicked. Butler averaged 47 yards on three kickoffs. Quintero handled the punting duties, and averaged 30.5 yards per boot. Terrance Johnson returned two kickoffs for 35 yards.

The Hall's loss isn't the end of the world. The showdown between the two top-ranked teams identifies things the Chargers undoubtedly will work on – and they have an entire season and post-season to do so before another rematch that seemingly every prognosticator predicts will take place in December at UCO's Chad Richison Stadium.

The last time Heritage Hall started the season with a loss was in 2018 on the road at 2A #1 Millwood (30-20). The Chargers didn't drop another contest that season, en route to the program's 7th title, including a semifinal shellacking of Lincoln Christian (69-34) and a rout of Sulphur (50-14) in the final.

Onward, Chargers!

Written by Luke Steelman '93
Photos by Tina Walker & Ben Thomas '25