Lincoln overwhelmed

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - As David Henderson trotted over to the sideline after scoring his second touchdown of the first half Friday, one of the Lincoln running back’s teammates reminded him there was no time to relax.

“All right, Doom, that’s two,” he said, using Henderson’s nickname. “We need five tonight.”

Henderson and the Mustangs’ offense tried gamely to keep up with Oakland Section champion McClymonds in the inaugural Transbay Bowl, but in the end there was no stopping the big, bad Mack attack.

The Warriors (10-2-1) scored touchdowns on eight of their first nine possessions to beat Lincoln 78-37 in front of 1,000 fans at Laney College. The one time they were denied came on a drive that began deep in their own territory with just one second remaining before halftime.

“Our offense did fine, but our defense just couldn’t come up with a stop,” Lincoln coach Phil Ferrigno said. “[McClymonds] just had too much for us. They played great.”

Henderson had the Mustangs believing early on as he returned the opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown and added scoring runs of 63 and 65 yards in the first half. The junior finished the game with 243 yards and two rushing touchdowns on 20 carries, raising his dazzling season totals to 2,431 yards and 26 touchdowns on 257 attempts.

But each time Henderson got loose, Mack came back almost as quickly.

Warriors running back Willie Griffin followed the kickoff return with an 8-yard touchdown dash and finished the first half with 163 of his 195 rushing yards and all four of his scores.

Quarterback Laron Johnson threw two first-half touchdown passes and finished the game 8-of-9 for 193 yards and four scores, three of which went to Joseph Gray (four catches, 118 yards).

Mack finished the game with 530 yards to Lincoln’s 338, although the Mustangs actually outrushed the Warriors 338-337.

“We respect Lincoln as a great team,” Mack coach Alonzo Carter said. “And it was an honor to play them in this game and a privilege to make history tonight.”

Phillippe Lewis and Ronnie Marania added second-half touchdown runs for Lincoln (10-3), which won the San Francisco Section title

29-22 last week over Lowell to claim back-to-back Turkey Bowl championships for the first time in school history.

The Mustangs will return a number of players from this team in 2007 and Henderson, for one, is already looking forward to another shot against Oakland’s finest next season.

“I think we’ll be back again next year,” Henderson said. “We’ll learn from this game.”

melliser@examiner.com