Best, Not Last, Chance For Railer Win

[October 09, 2015]  By Benjamin Yount
 
LINCOLN -- Senior Garrett Aeilts knows Lincoln’s record over the past three years, he’s been on the field or on the sidelines for each of the school’s 24 straight losses.

If the losing streak is going to come to an end, Friday night’s game against Decatur MacArthur is the next, best chance.

“We know this is our best shot,” Aeilts the senior quarterback said Thursday. “We know they’re going to be super athletic…But we just have make sure that what they have in athletic ability, we have in how smart we play.”

Lincoln and MacArthur are the only winless teams in the Central State Eight.

MacArthur has lost to almost all of the same teams that beat Lincoln.

But the Generals have scored.

MacArthur has put 75 points on the board over the first six games. Lincoln has scored just six.

But both teams have surrendered more than 300 points (321 for MacArthur, 325 for Lincoln.)

“Most of the points they’ve gotten this year have come off of crazy plays,” Lincoln Coach Seth Bass said of MacArthur.

Bass said the Railers match-up well against the Generals. They’re faster he says, we’re bigger.

“I don’t think they’re well conditioned,” Bass noted. “This is a team we’re going to tempo very early. We’re going to run them sideline to sideline. Then we’ll run at them.”

Aeilts said the Railers focused on the up tempo game plan, but kept it light this week in practice.

“We’ve been trying to keep the huddles relaxed, we’ve been trying to keep everybody relaxed,” Aeilts said. “But we still want to keep that competitive edge. That we know we can go out there and hopefully win the ball game.”

Senior linebacker Ryan Rutschke said he knows Lincoln can win.

“Yeah they’ve scored a bunch, but they’ve also given up a bunch,” Rutschke added. “I think we can get em, and beat em.”

Bass said the key for the Railers will be the defense, which has given up the most points in the conference.

But Bass wants his squad to contain MacArthur’s quarterback. If the Railers can do that, Bass said they can win.

“Their quarterback is very, very good at buying time,” Bass said. “He scrambles around very well. Not an overly fast kid, but very shifty. That’ll be the key to the game, keeping him contained.”

If Lincoln wins, it will be the Railers’ first victory since October of 2012, and the first conference win since September of that year.

Lincoln travels to Decatur to play MacArthur, kickoff is 7 p.m.

[Benjamin Yount]