Railers Look To Stay Healthy, Focused Against Jacksonville

[September 30, 2016]  By Benjamin Yount

LINCOLN – The Lincoln Railsplitters want to make their final trip to Jacksonville as uneventful as possible.

“Player safety is our number one priority,” Coach Matt Silkowski said after Thursday's final practice. “We're just trying to keep them healthy.”

Lincoln has two reasons to focus on health this week.

The Railers have a match-up with winless Lanphier High School next week.

And Jacksonville is a notoriously tough football team.

“They're pretty physical,” senior Andrew Yount said of the Crimsons. “Every year we play them, they have a chip on their shoulder. It's going to be a tough game.”

“Jacksonville isn't a fancy team,” Silkowski said. “They're just going to line up and run it down your throat.”

Jacksonville also has something to prove. The Crimsons have won just two games this season. They're coming off a 56-0 drubbing at the hands of Rochester last week. If Jacksonville is going to make the playoffs they have to beat Lincoln.

Silkowski said Lincoln's starters might not play too much.

He wants to keep his team healthy for sure. But the first year coach noted there's some freedom in not having to worry about the scoreboard some weeks.

“We made a few position moves in practice this week. Particularly on the defensive side of the ball,” Silkowski said. “We want to see how kids can play different spots. Looking a little bit toward next year with those guys.”

But not too far ahead.

Junior running back Titus Cannon says the team is focused on getting this year's senior class a win.

“We're trying to play for our seniors. We don't want to let them down,” Cannon said.

The class of 2017 hasn't seen a varsity football win in their four years at Lincoln.

You have to go back to 2012 for the school's last varsity win.

Senior linebacker Scott Lesson said the senior class knows they'll have a losing record. But they're determined to leave a better legacy.

“We're staying positive,” Lesson said. “We're trying to have fun and keep playing.”

Coach Silkowski said his squad deserves credit for their attitude this week.

Lincoln had hoped for a win against Decatur MacArthur last week (the Generals were winless til they played Lincoln). In the past, teams mentally quit after the last 'winnable' game on the schedule

Silkowski said that didn't happen this week.

“You always say you want football to teach life lessons. Last Friday was a life lesson for these kids,” Silkowski explained. “I think it was a big time gut check for a lot of those guys. No one quit on us.”

Lincoln travels to Jacksonville Friday night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.