Leading Saturday's Homecoming win for the Lincoln Blue Tigers were two sophomores who weren't on the active roster at the end of the 2018 season.
One player suffered a season-ending injury in the fourth game of a 3-8 season. The other took the 2018 season off after playing as a true freshman for the Blue Tigers the season before.
Running back Hosea Franklin rushed for 205 yards and had two total touchdowns, while strong safety Cody Alexander had an 81-yard interception return for a touchdown in Lincoln's 27-9 win against Northeastern State.
"We had a really good week of preparation," Lincoln interim head coach Malik Hoskins said.
Alexander's pick-six broke a scoreless tie early in the second quarter.
As Northeastern State was moving deeper into Lincoln territory, RiverHawks quarterback Jacob Medrano looked for a receiver toward the Northeastern State sideline. Medrano was already 4-of-4 passing on the drive, but his next throw found Alexander's hands instead.
"I just saw the receiver coming off kind of slow, and I broke in and saw the quarterback let go of it, and I knew I could get to it," Alexander said. "I just took off as fast as I could."
The takeaway was the sixth of the season for Alexander, and his third interception. After Saturday's game, he leads the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association in defensive takeaways.
The takeaways this season are nothing new for Alexander, who had nine interceptions and a fumble recovery in a four-year career at Blair Oaks High School. During his senior season in 2016, he was named the Tri-County Conference defensive MVP.
But the play wasn't over. Alexander was never tackled. He ran the ball back the other way for a touchdown, the Blue Tigers' first defensive score on their 17th takeaway of the season.
"I had a really good block from someone," Alexander said. "That set me up, and I just had to hit a hole and take it."
It was the second defensive touchdown of Alexander's college career. In 2017 against McKendree, he returned a fumble 47 yards for a score on his lone takeaway of the season.
Lincoln is plus-two in turnover margin, forcing at least one turnover in six of seven games. A big reason the Blue Tigers are in the positive in that category is because they forced seven turnovers in the season opener at Washburn.
"Every week, every day in practice, coaches were hounding on takeaways," Alexander said. "We've got to have them. That's just part of who we are as a defense, is takeaways."
Alexander stepped away from football for the 2018 season, but he returned to the Blue Tigers for spring practice earlier this year.
"Once you put football aside, the first year, it's really tough," Alexander said. "You find out how much you really love the game.
"That's why I love it, regardless of the scoreboard, it's just good to be out here with my brothers and teammates."
In seven games this season, Alexander has 39 total tackles, including 32 solo stops. He also has 2 tackles for loss, and in addition to his three fumble recoveries, he has a forced fumble as well.
"He is a presence for this whole team," Hoskins said. "He's a kid that goes about his business every day. Great work ethic, doesn't say anything. He just goes out and does what he's asked to do every day.
"I'm just happy that good things are happening for him."
Hoskins is also glad to see good things are happening for Franklin.
Lincoln's primary source of offense secured his fifth 100-yard performance this season, and his second time surpassing the 200-yard mark.
In Saturday's win, Franklin extended his season rushing total to 1,001 yards on 148 carries (6.8 average). He becomes only the fourth different running back in Lincoln history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, and with five games remaining, the school's all-time single-season rushing record of 1,266 yards set by Morris Henderson in 2013 is well within Franklin's reach.
"He is the highlight of the conference," Hoskins said, as no other player in the MIAA has 650 yards rushing this season. "I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes when I say that, but this kid goes about his business every day and does exactly what you ask him to do."
Tack on 54 yards receiving, and Franklin has accounted for 58.5 percent of Lincoln's 1,804 yards of offense this season.
While Franklin has piled up the rushing yards game after game, he hasn't been as successful finding the end zone, scoring just three touchdowns through six games.
He found the end zone twice Saturday, and both touchdowns came on crucial fourth-and-goal plays in the third quarter.
The first was a 2-yard touchdown pass from Chancellor Johnson to Franklin. Making the call more impressive was on the previous play, the Blue Tigers attempted a similar short pass, and it was batted down by a Northeastern State player at the line of scrimmage.
"The catch that I made for that touchdown, I was anticipating for someone to be guarding me," Franklin said.
The second touchdown came on a 2-yard touchdown run. Franklin took the pitch from Johnson and was hit at the 1-yard line by Northeastern State's Ashton Antwine, but he absorbed the hit and still pushed through into the end zone to extend the lead to 20-7.
"That wasn't the play that was called on the sideline," Hoskins said. " We were going to run power, which we were having success with. We were going to run it inside, but they condensed everything inside and they gave up their outside, so we checked to a speed option."
Franklin had just 34 yards rushing by halftime. But thanks to runs of 52, 22, 39 and 30 yards in the second half, Franklin turned around his afternoon.
"The first half, we came out and we were trying to push it," Franklin said. "In the second half, it was a close game, so we had to really be on our grind and make sure we try to make no mistakes when we run the ball."
Running between the tackles wasn't a successful option in the first half for Lincoln, as Northeastern State stacked the box for Franklin. After halftime, the Blue Tigers ran the ball to the outside and then upfield, finding success there.
"Once we started going lateral and the linebackers started flowing with the jet sweep, it opened up the middle for him," Hoskins said. "He has one speed, which is 'go.' So once he gets there, he is gone."
Depth on the offensive line has been a cause for concern for Lincoln, which had just seven linemen dressed for a game earlier this season. But the Blue Tigers' 310-yard rushing performance was keyed by a line that cut down on allowing negative plays against Northeastern State.
"Without the offensive line, I wouldn't be able to do what I do," Franklin said. "I give them all the credit."
The toughest part of the schedule still awaits Lincoln (1-6), which plays Saturday at Northwest Missouri (6-1), a team that was ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division II last week before a 24-17 loss at Nebraska-Kearney.
That makes Saturday's first win of the season all the more meaningful for Lincoln.
"It just does wonders for our team's morale," Alexander said.
Photo Gallery
Mardi Gras with The Buzz at Cajun's
The annual Mardi Gras party at Cajuns Wharf was a big affair with Dikki Du & The Zydeko Krewe, beads and masks and a celebrity crawfish eating contest sponsored by 103.7 The Buzz.