Railers Leave Jacksonville With Loss, Sour Taste

[October 01, 2016]  By Benjamin Yount, pictures by Sherri Sparrow

JACKSONVILLE – It's not Jacksonville's 42 first half points. It's not the questionable officiating. It's not the long drive. It's not the rain.

The headline from Lincoln's Friday night loss to Jacksonville is the timeout.

Jacksonville coach Mark Grounds called a timeout with three-tenths of a second left in the first half.

Already up 42-0, and with Lincoln pushed back near their own goal line, Jacksonville stopped a third down run that should've ended the first half.

But Jacksonville called timeout to try and force a punt.

That single play encapsulated the tone of Friday's contest. And is why so many on the Lincoln sideline said they're not sad this was their last trip to Jacksonville.

As for the game, it was what you'd expect.

Jacksonville set-out to avenge a drubbing by Rochester the week before. The Crimsons were able to run and throw at will.

Lincoln Coach Matt Silkowski said the Railers didn't help things with a string of penalties and some turnovers.

“We didn't come out with much energy. We didn't have much tempo,” Silkowski said. “We came out flat and the scoreboard showed that.”

Jacksonville's offensive and defensive lines pushed the Railsplitters all over the field. That allowed the Crimsons to run when they wanted to run and pass when they wanted to pass.

Lincoln showed a few flashes. But for every step forward, Railer quarterback Andrew Yount said Lincoln's offense took a step back.

“The main thing is execution,” Yount said. “We can't come out flat like we did in the first half. We can't do that next week.”

Lincoln played a much more aggressive second half.

The Splitter's second-string offense moved the ball in chunks.

Junior Quarterback Josh Linares scampered for a few nice runs. But it was his defensive play that rallied the Railsplitters

“Coach asked 'How want to play nose guard,' so I called my own number,” Linares explained. “I never played nose, but I went out there and tried my best. Fortunately I made a few big plays.”

Linares stopped a Jacksonville runner for a loss, then a few plays later sacked Jacksonville’s quarterback and forced a fumble.

Jacksonville improved to 3-3 and the year with the win.

Lincoln is now 0-6.

The Railers will host Lanphier High School next week. The Lions picked-up their first win of the season Friday against Springfield.