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 They joked, they pushed each other in their seats, they laughed at
each other.
The 18 Freshmen-to-be who crowded the Lincoln High School
auditorium Saturday morning had the nervous energy of kids about to
become young men.
But the boyish grins and nervous fidgeting melted away as, one by
one, they walked up the steps onto the stage in front of their
parents and their teammates to sign their pledge to play
Railsplitter football.
Saturday was the first ‘signing day’ for incoming freshman.
“It was just one after the other,” new LCHS Football Coach Seth Bass
said. “You’d look down, there would be a small pause and you’d
wonder if that was it. Then another kid would get up, and another
kid, and another kid.”
Bass created the ceremony to let the Class of 2019 know that things
will be different for Lincoln football.
“It’s new for all of us,” the coach said. “I’m anxious, they’re
anxious, and we’ve all get to get a feel for each other. And these
guys, on top of that, they’ve got the nervousness of coming into
high school for the first time.”
Bass had each freshman-to be sign a letter of intent, he said to get
them excited and to hold players accountable.
The young men don’t have to play football, but Bass told the players
they need to at least tell him why they won’t be on the field if
they don’t come out next year.
But if the rest of the new crop of Railsplitters is like Bryson
Farris, the coach should see a full team in August.
“I’m thinking (about) the things that Coach Bass will be doing the
next couple of years,” Farris said after signing his letter and
raising his first L. “(I’m looking forward to) the more hand-on
coaching this summer and the excitement of playing high school
football.”
Farris’ mom, Mindy, said the anticipation and turn-out for what has
been a lackluster Lincoln football program is contagious.
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“Everybody is excited about it,” she said. “We’ve got it going out
on Facebook and trying to get the community involved. We’re excited
to get behind football players this season.”
Coach Bass will test that excitement with a new, rigorous summer
schedule.
Weightlifting will begin in the next few weeks, Bass said he wants
to see the football team in the weight room four times a week.
And the Railsplitters are looking at least one football camp this
summer, likely at Western Illinois University, and several skills
practices throughout June and July.
“We’re going to have to move a lot of guys around,” Bass said about
Lincoln’s new offensive and defensive scheme. “That’s going to be
one thing we figure out with our workouts…Once we get all of that,
we can make a depth chart. And we can start rolling into practices
in July.”
The official beginning of football season does not come until IHSA
mandated practices in August, but Bass said Lincoln must use all of
the summer if the team will be competitive during the fall.
[Benjamin Yount]
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