Lincoln (KFSM) - The Lincoln Wolves have exceeded all expectations this season, at least from the outside.
"No one picked to go 8-2, no one picked us to finish the 3 (seed)," says head coach Don Harrison.
"Everyone was saying what we couldn’t do is we couldn’t beat Prairie Grove."
Maybe the only people who saw this coming were the Wolves themselves.
"We’ve been expecting it for a while," says senior Sterling Morhpis. "We had a class coming up, we finally came through."
That senior class only had 7 wins total their first three seasons; now, the Wolves’ 8 wins are their most since 2013; their win last week over Prairie Grove was the team’s first since 1995.
"It’s been 20 something years, and we knew it going it to it," admits Harrison. It was a lot of pressure on the boys but they came out and played well."
"The fact that it’s been 22 years, it’s been way too long since we beat them," says senior Caleb Lloyd. "We definitely see them as the biggest rival we have, and to beat them for the first time in so long, it’s huge for this team, it’s huge for this program, and it’s definitely a big deal."
When it comes to perception of the program, both inside and outside the community, Lincoln has already accomplished so much this season.
"Other teams in the conference start looking at us a little differently now," says Lloyd.
Senior Christian Crittenden sees the effect the team has had on the city itself.
"Just the energy, the energy of the town, everybody’s starting to come together more and do more things together."
Lloyd agrees.
"We could hardly get anyone to come to the games, now it’s hard to get anybody to not come to the games."
And they’re not done yet, says Morphis.
"Not quite, I think we need to make it a little ways in the playoffs."
Harrison wants his team to harness the momentum of the win over Prairie Grove
"They gotta find that same emotion, find that same execution, the same thing they did last Friday night."
The Wolves will look for their first playoff win since 2013 Friday night in Hamburg. If the rest of this season is any indication, that's another streak that may just fall.