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 Zero wins last year.
Eighteen straight losses.
A worst in the conference 440 points allowed last season.
But Thursday evening, as the Railers wrapped up their last practice
before the 2015 season, the only number on Coach Seth Bass' mind was
two-by-two.
The first year head coach walked his squad through their final
preparations, including the new pre-game ritual of walking on to the
field two-by-two.
“I've been looking forward to this since I got hired,” Bass said of
Friday night's season opener against Springfield Southeast High
School.
Bass' attention to detail, from the new entrance to a new warm-up
routine, is just part of a new philosophy for Lincoln football this
year.
The Railer Defense is ready!
“Hopefully (fans) see a much more aggressive team. There are still
going to be mistake because we are a young team, and there will be
some bumps along the road,” Bass added. “But I hope they see a new
attitude.”
Southeast walloped Lincoln last year, beating the Railers 46-8.
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But Bass noted the Spartans are young this year, and won't return
many of their starters from 2014.
“They're going to have a speed advantage over us. I think we have a
little bit of a size advantage over them,” Bass said. “Hopefully our
conditioning and our execution is going to make the difference for
us.”
Senior linebacker Ryan Rutschke said the team spent months this
summer getting ready for this moment.
“I think our defense is really ready. Our offense, well, we should
be okay,” Rutschke said.
Bass echoed Rutschke's notion that the defense may be a bit more
prepared for the season opener.
But senior quarterback Garrett Aeilts said he's ready to take the
reins off this offense.
“We're ready to get out there,” Aeilts said after Thursday's final
run through. “We've been practicing and practicing, we all know
what's going on. We're now ready to get out there and see if we can
do some damage.”
The Railsplitters are looking for their first win since October of
2012 against Olympia.
Lincoln and Southeast kickoff at 7 p.m. from Springfield.
[Benjamin Yount]
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