Glimpses Aren't Enough, Railers Fall To Springfield

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[September 14, 2015]  By Benjamin Yount
 
SPRINGFIELD – There are times when the 2015 Lincoln Railers look like they could be any team in the world.

There were even a few glimpses during Saturday night's game in Springfield.

Like the Andrew Yount to Garrett Aelits to Nathan Podunajec pass combo in the first quarter that almost went for six points.

Or Yount's second half running, where he gashed the Senator defense time after time.

Or the big hit in the third quarter from Braden Tanner that forced a Springfield High fumble.

“We showed a lot of flashes of competing,” Coach Seth Bass said “I thought we battled pretty well, especially in the third quarter.”

But the glimpses and the flashes came too late.

Springfield High scored 37 points in the first half on way to a 47-0 rout of the Railsplitters.

“It's disappointing to not get into the end zone,” Bass said after the game.


 

Lincoln was tantalizingly close, twice in the second half.

The Railers took the third quarter kickoff and marched down the field.

Yount, who carried the ball 30 times for 53 yards, ripped three straight runs and had the ball on Springfield High's 15 yard line.

But one carry too many, the Senators pounced and drove him back seven yards.

Lincoln opted for a field goal, but missed the kick.

A few plays later, Tannner forced the fumble, and Lincoln was back in business.

Yount and Aeilts again marched the Splitters to the shadow of the goal line, but a tipped pass fell to a waiting Springfield defender who rambled 87 yards for a touchdown.

“There's a lot of frustration,” Aeilts said. “We put in all the effort we can and to not get into the end zone is frustrating.”

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Aeilts finished the game with 31 yards on the ground and 71 yards in the air.

Yount took some of the blame for not reaching the end zone, “First half, I came out and didn't do very well. But we got it together in the second half.”

Bass echoed the second half rally of sorts.


“I thought our effort was much, much better than last week,” Bass said. “I thought our offensive line...they all played well in the third quarter. Yount ran extremely hard and I think he grew into himself a little in the second half.”

Lincoln thought the match-up against Springfield would be their best shot for a win this season. The Railers have now lost 21 straight games, dating back to the 2013 season.

The schedule only gets harder from here.

“This is a game I feel we should have won,” the senior Tanner said. “But we're going to take (this) loss and keep pushing forward.”

Forward means next week which means Decatur Eisenhower, who beat Decatur MacArthur Saturday 41-13.

Then Lincoln gets the champs. The Railers play Sacred Heart Griffin and Rochester High School back-to-back in weeks five and six.

[Ben Yount;  pictures by Sherri Sparrow]

[click on pictures for larger images]

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