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 It was easy to tell who was more emotional.
Val Conrady choked back a tear as she talked about her son Sage's
last night in front of the hometown crowd.
“It's a combination of being extremely proud and extremely sad,” she
said.
Conrady was one of nearly a dozen seniors to play their final home
game Friday night.
Senior Tyler Ferguson's parents remembered their first time watching
their son.
“It rained, a lot,” Tyler's mom, Tabitha Ferguson said.
“It went by too fast,” Ferguson's father Michael Gail added.
The four years many of the seniors put in were not the most
successful, Lincoln hasn't won a varsity football game since 2012.
But Ferguson wasn't thinking about the record as he stood, for the
last time, in his green and red uniform about to walk on to the
field.
“It's just fun, whether we win or lose, to just come out here and
play with all of these other seniors” Ferguson said.
Lincoln did lose.
The Jacksonville Crimson's exploded for 64 points.
The Railers scored. Nathan Podunajnec started a third quarter
drive by snaring a high snap out of the air, and galloping nearly
ten yards.
A few plays later, Lincoln turned a fake punt into a first down.
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Podunajec then closed the drive with a five yard scamper into the
end zone.
But it was too little too late.
The clock was running, and the game ended as Lincoln was scrambling
back for one more play.
That''s when it hit.
The seniors started to let their emotions show.
By the time Coach Seth Bass broke the huddle for the end of the game
there was nothing but tears and hugs.
“All throughout the game. We were trying not to let it get to us,”
senior quarterback Garrett Aeilts said through his tears after the
game. “But toward the end of the game it really sank in.”
Bass said senior night is always an emotional night, and another
loss didn't make it easier.
“We can talk legacy all we want, but they wanted to have success
this senior year,” Bass said. “They're on board for the big picture,
but that doesn't make it any easier for them. It's an emotional
night for them.”
“It's an awful feeling,” Aeilts added. “The game itself doesn't even
compare to the feeling you get knowing this is the last time you'll
come out on your home field with your brothers and play football.”
Lincoln will play its final game Thursday against Lanphier High
School in Springfield.
[Ben Yount]
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