It was the same old script with Raul Figueroa, Jason Silva and Jose Ramirez pounding out yard after yard behind the excellent blocking of their offensive line.

And the plot ended with the same old results as Lincoln (7-0, 4-0) kept its unblemished record intact, racking up a 47-21 win over Willow Glen (1-7, 0-4) in a Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division contest. The win kept the Lions tied with Santa Teresa atop the division.

Figueroa set the pace for the Lions against the Rams, piling up 154 yards on 17 carries and scoring three times. The senior running back did his damage primarily in the first half when the Lions lit up the scoreboard to build a 40-0 halftime advantage. Figueroa got the call only one time for a 7-yard jaunt after intermission as coach Kevin Collins substituted freely in the second half.

The Lions set the tone by taking the opening kick off and marching down the field, steadily eating up yardage on the ground with Figueroa and Silva sharing the load. The 10-play, 71-yard drive took less than four minutes and culminated when Silva took a swing pass from quarterback Tarik Hakmi and scampered around the left side 18 yards for the score.

The Lincoln ground attack was so strong that Hakmi put the ball in the air only four times in the game, completing three for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Jonathan Rivera pulled down two for 97 yards and a touchdown and Silva gathered in one for the 18-yard score.

The Rams got a break on the ensuing kick off when the kick went short and they took possession at their own 44-yard line. They were able to pick up one first down on a quarterback sneak by Tyler Smith on a fourth and one situation but stalled and were forced to punt.

This time it was the Lions who got the break when the punt went off the side of the kicker's foot, took a bounce backwards, and netted only three yards, setting up the Lions near midfield. Ramirez quickly ate up 21 yards on one blast before Figueroa ground out the final 20 on three straight carries, punching the ball in on a 1-yard blast up the middle. The Lions pulled a bit of trickery on the PAT attempt when holder Patrick Yanez sprinted to the corner, bowling his way over a couple of Rams into the end zone for the two-point conversion.

Lincoln would put one more tally on the board before the first quarter came to a close, going 66 yards in only four plays. The key play was a 41-yard strike from Hakmi to Rivera for a first down at the Willow Glen 26-yard line. Two plays later, Silva got his second score of the day when he fought his way in from four yards out.

Collins pulled another surprise out of his bag of tricks on the kick off when he had the Lions go for an onside kick. It completely caught the Rams off guard as Chris Garcia fell on the ball at the Willow Glen 48-yard line.

A chorus of boos and protests went up from the stands, as well as a few from the Rams' bench, but when questioned about the move after the game, Collins defended his tactics. "They can move the ball and it was still very early in the game and anything can happen in an old time rivalry like this one. I just wanted to make sure that the full momentum stayed with us."

The move kept the Rams' defense on their heels as the Lions continued to push the ball down the field. Less than two minutes later, Lincoln had seven more on the board when Figueroa rumbled in from four yards out and Garcia found the range on the PAT kick.

It looked like the Rams may have finally found some offensive rhythm as running back Robert Oxsen blasted out 24 yards on three straight efforts to put the Rams near midfield. But things continued to go sideways for the Rams when they were flagged for a holding penalty and on the next play lost a fumble when Smith drifted back to pass and was forced to scramble. He was blindsided by Lincoln's Pierre Ramos and Nicholas Pretty was there to pounce on the ball for the Lions at the Willow Glen 29. Two plays later Figueroa scampered in from 20 yards out for his third touchdown on the day. Smith broke through to block the PAT kick.

Willow Glen came fighting back as Marques Hill chalked up a 31-yard kick off return to get the Rams fired up. They were able to move the ball down to the Lions' 31 where they faced a fourth and nine. Smith took the snap from the shotgun position and fired a bullet that was just inches off the fingertips of the receiver, giving Lincoln the ball again with about two and a half minutes left in the half.

The Lions had the magic touch once more. Hakmi lofted a high arching pass that hit the closely guarded Rivera near the 10-yard line. He pulled in the pass, never breaking stride, and raced into the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown with 44 ticks left on the clock. Garcia's kick made it 40-0.

It would have been easy for the Rams to hang it up and write this one off but coach Andy Penwarden and his staff talked to the team about that at the break.

"We told our players that we had to erase the scoreboard and try to win the second half and we did that," Penwarden said. "Being down 40-0, we did what we wanted to do in the second half."

"Our kids maintained the honor of the game by not giving up and playing hard on every play. I am proud of them for doing that."

That challenge was made even more difficult when Lincoln scored on its first possession of the second half on a 5-yard run by Silva and the point after by Norberto Romero to go up 47-0.

Willow Glen turned to its aerial attack with a few rushes from Oxsen and Eugene Martinez mixed in to keep the Lincoln defense honest and it began to pay off.

Smith found Hill and Anthony Daniels on a pair of 19-yard connections that were key to keeping the Rams first touchdown drive alive. The score came from nine yards out when Smith rolled out and fired a bullet to Daniels. Mathew Arevalo split the uprights and the Rams had seven points.

The Rams' defense stepped up and forced the Lions to go three and out, giving Smith and company another shot. It was Smith finding Hill on 14-yard and 16-yard strikes to keep the chains moving. He guided the Rams 68 yards to paydirt with Martinez getting the call on the final two plays, scoring on a 1-yard plunge.

Willow Glen was able to tack on another score with two minutes left in the game on another strong effort by Martinez. He reached back to make a one-handed grab of a pitch from Smith and headed around the corner from the 3-yard line. Arevalo's boot was true and the Rams had 21 points.

It was a sparse day on the ground for the Rams with Oxsen leading the way with 59 yards on 12 carries. Martinez added 22 yards in seven attempts and the two touchdowns. Smith tacked on 22 yards in 10 efforts, mostly on scrambles.

Smith racked up 129 yards through the air, connecting on 12 of 27 attempts and one touchdown. Hill was his favorite target, pulling down five for 60 yards. Daniels grabbed four for 43 yards and a touchdown. Martinez caught two for 13 yards and Nick Abbatelli added one for 13 yards.

The Rams finish the season with games at Mt. Pleasant (7 p.m. on Nov. 5) and hosting Andrew Hill (1:30 p.m. on Nov. 13). "Both Mt. Pleasant and Andrew Hill are comparable to us, although they have better records than us at this time," the coach said. "But we can play with them."