Lincoln High School wide receiver Rare Williams couldn't stop hopping. Up and down, side-to-side, a grin from ear-to-ear.

His joy was uncontrollable. Almost childlike.

Who could blame him? Last year, Williams walked off the field nine weeks in a row a loser. Having just defeated defending Southeastern Conference White Division champs Adrian, 27-12, Williams and his team are now on the cusp of the school's first ever playoff berth.

He couldn't contain himself.

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"The feeling is unbelievable," said Williams who had six catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns Friday night. "We worked so hard to get this far. To have an opportunity to get in the playoffs is unbelievable."

Lincoln (5-2, 3-2) needs one more win with two games remaining to make the playoffs for the first time in school history. Lincoln coach Chris Westfall doesn't want to leave it to the final week. Lincoln takes on cross-town rival Ypsilanti next week.

"Our kids, they have a lot of friends over there. They actually have a couple of our (former) kids over there," Westfall said, in reference to Lincoln transfer students. "There’s a lot of emotion in that one. It’ll be a fun one."

It was Williams who gave Lincoln a lead it would never relinquish on a trick play on the Railsplitters' first possession. On a 4th-and-5 play, Lincoln lined up in punt formation, but as soon as punter Corey Gray received the snap he hit Williams on a quick slant route. Williams shook his first defender than out-sprinted the deep man for the 59-yard score.

Lincoln had just installed the play that week in practice.

On the ensuing possession, Adrian marched down the field with a 15-play, 81-yard drive that spanned more than six minutes, but came away with just a field goal. Lincoln's goal-line defense was suffocating all night, holding Adrian to another field goal in the half.

Adrian scored a touchdown on its third possession inside the red zone, which came in the fourth quarter, but it took the Maples nearly three minutes to score after getting there. Down 20-12 with 9:30 left in the game, it was time Adrian didn't have to spare.

"That's kids, that's not scheme, that's not magic answers. That's those kids that are good, physical players," Westfall said.

Adrian starting quarterback Sebastian Johnson was sidelined with a shoulder injury and his absence was evident as Adrian struggled to sustain drives.

"That’s a big deal. That Johnson kid’s a pretty good player," Westfall said, but didn't discount how his team played.

"Without a doubt the best game we’ve played. We’ve played that well defensively, we haven’t played that well offensively."

Lincoln running back William Russell scored the Railsplitters other two touchdowns. He finished with 16 carries for 112 yards.

Contact Pete Cunningham at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.