Railers come up short in a hard-fought final game of the season

By Scott Kirby

[October 26, 2013]  STANFORD -- The Lincoln Railers traveled to Olympia to take on the Spartans for the last game of the year. The Railers had one thing on their mind, and that was to finish the season on a good note and get their first win of the season.

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 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.

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]