 This would be a tough task as the Railers were matched up against a
Spartan team on their Senior Night. The Railers had a little
motivation of their own as this would be the last time most of the
seniors would play tackle football ever again. Yes, some of the
seniors will attend college next year and play football, but they
will never experience the camaraderie and relationships with other
players in a high school football locker room.The Spartans got
things going first with a 17-yard touchdown pass from quarterback
Collin Miller to wide receiver Zach Cleinmark to make the score 6-0
with 8:14 to go in the first quarter.
The Railers followed with a score of their own on a 26-yard
touchdown run by Brent Metelko in the second quarter, and Grant
Cooper kicked the extra point to give the Railers a 7-6 lead. The
Railers would take that score into halftime and were only 24 minutes
away from their only victory on the season.
The Olympia Spartans received the ball to start the second half,
and they were able to drive the ball down the field on the Railer
defense. The drive was capped off with a 3-yard touchdown run by
Garrett French, and the Spartans made the 2-point conversion to take
a 14-7 lead.
The Lincoln Railers came out on their first possession of the
second half in a different formation than we are used to seeing. The
Railers lined up to try to spread the field and catch the Spartans
off guard. The formation consisted of some of the lineman spread
wide right with the receivers. The formation worked on a couple of
plays, but a holding call would bring the ball all the way back in
the Railers' own territory, so Lincoln went back with their regular
formations.
The Railers were unable to get anything going in the third
quarter. Olympia took advantage of Lincoln's lack of offense and was
able to score again with 0:08 left in the third on an 18-yard pass
from Miller to Justin Slager to make the score 20-7 to end the third
quarter. The Railers were down two touchdowns going into the last
quarter of the 2013 season and a victory wasn't looking good.
Senior Austin Krusz wasn't about to let his team head back to
Lincoln without a victory, and he led his team to two scores within
5 minutes. The first score came with 10:06 left in the fourth on a
pass from Krusz to Will Cook for an 18-yard touchdown, and after
Cooper converted the extra point, the Railers were within six points
of the Spartans.
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The defense of the Railers stepped up on the Spartans' next
possession, and Olympia was forced to punt. The Railers took
over and drove the ball down the field on some nice pass plays
and some good runs by the fleet-footed Krusz. Krusz finished the
drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Railers a 1-point
lead with 5:22 to go in the game.
Now all Lincoln would have to do is stop Olympia's offense and
the Railers would get their first victory.
The Spartans took the ensuing kickoff and had a huge return to
give their offense great field position. The Railers' defense was
unable to contain the running game of the Spartans, and with 1:57
left in the game, the Spartans scored on a 1-yard run by French to
give Olympia a 26-21 lead.
The Railers would have one final chance to win the game but would
have to do so with less than 2 minutes remaining.
Once again, Krusz was able to move the ball on the ground, and
the Railers were taking the ball right down the field. You could
feel the momentum changing on both sides of the ball. On the Railers'
side, you could see the players getting excited as well as the fans,
and on Olympia's side, you could see nervousness as the Railers were
driving the ball toward the end zone.
But all that came to a screeching halt as Krusz rolled right,
tried to get a pass to his receiver and underthrew him, and it was
intercepted by Olympia to seal the game.
The Railers came close to getting their only victory on the
season but came up a little short. The final score was 26-21.
Austin Krusz had 137 yards rushing on 15 carries and 135 yards
passing on 10 completions. Brent Metelko had five carries for 59
yards rushing. Will Cook had five receptions for 76 yards, and Adam
Conrady had four catches for 28 yards.
[By SCOTT KIRBY] |
