LDN - Sports

Effingham -- It just wasn’t meant to be.

[October 09, 2021] The Lincoln Railer football team reached the end zone three times on its opening possession Friday night, chewing up more than 8 minutes in its opening drive in Effingham against the Flaming Hearts.
LCHS may have reached the end zone three times, but the Railers came away with 0 points on the drive.

That opening possession turned out to be a foreshadowing microcosm of the game for the Railers as it illustrated Lincoln’s offensive prowess, the Railers’ ability to move the ball downfield against a strong Effingham defense and how numerous penalties being called against LCHS would negate the impressive never-give-up efforts of the players. In the end, it was all too much for Lincoln to overcome, and Effingham escaped with a 34-22 Apollo Conference win over the Railers.

“We didn’t play a very disciplined game,” Lincoln coach Matt Silkowski said of the Railers, who fell to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the Apollo Conference. “Obviously, we had a lot of penalties and we played the most disciplined team in the country, and when you’re not the most disciplined team, that’s going to make it difficult.

“We had opportunities. We started the game good offensively, we had a real good drive, an over-8-minute drive, but again, we got killed by penalties. We didn’t figure it out it was too late, and by then, we were already fighting other battles and weren’t good enough to overcome it tonight.”

Following the touchback on the opening kickoff, the Railsplitters were 80 yards away from the goal line. On the first play, running back Ki’on Carson took the ball 80 yards for an apparent touchdown, but the play was called back as Lincoln was whistled for a holding earlier in the play 65 yards from the goal line.

Lincoln then moved the ball downfield on an impressive drive; 16 plays and 71 yards later, the Railers had a first-and-goal situation from the 4-yard line when Carson again scampered into the end zone for an apparent touchdown. The Railers were flagged for holding on the play, so Lincoln was denied the touchdown and was backed up to the 16-yard line.

Three plays later on third-and-goal from the 20, quarterback Elijah Pollice found Scotty Battin in the end zone on a TD pass, but the score was waved off when an official ruled that offensive pass interference had occurred. That backed Lincoln up to the 35-yard line, and on fourth-and-goal from there, Lincoln went for it as Pollice connected with Battin again. The Railer receiver leaped and extended himself to make the catch and, in doing so, was unable to keep his feet under him as he was tackled three yards from the end zone and Effingham took possession on downs.

“I think that [the first offensive series] kind of took us out of it,” Silkowski said of Lincoln finding the end zone three times and coming away with no points.

Effingham then engineered an impressive first drive of its own, going 97 yards and getting its first touchdown on a pass from Tanner Pontious to Evan Waymoth for 25 yards. The extra point gave Effingham a 7-0 with 9:16 left in the second quarter.

The Railers offense moved the ball somewhat on its next possession but was victimized by a penalty midway through the drive. Lincoln punted on fourth-and-9 from its own 22-yard line. An inaccurate snap and pressure from the Effingham rush resulted in a short punt that gave the Flaming Hearts the ball 36 yards from the end zone. Two plays later, Effingham got its second TD of the quarter on a 40-yard pass play and went up 14-0 after converting the extra point.

Instead of just giving up, however, Lincoln responded with a touchdown drive of its own. The Railers moved the ball 80 yards downfield in overcoming more penalties and keeping the drive alive with a couple fourth down conversions. Pollice connected with Trey Schilling for a 12-yard pickup on a fourth-and-3 situation and Carson picked up 10 yards on a fourth-and-2 to keep the drive alive.

[to top of second column]

Facing fourth-and-5 on Effingham’s 25-yard line, Pollice connected with Battin again, but after the play Lincoln was called for a personal foul, moving the ball from the 18-yard line back to the 33. The Railers overcame it, however, as Pollice hit Jaden Leadley on a 33-yard pass play for Lincoln’s first touchdown. The pair connected again on the 2-point conversion to pull Lincoln within a touchdown at 14-6 with 1:03 remaining in the half.

The Railer defense couldn’t hold the Flaming Hearts, however, as the Flaming Hearts quarterback Pontious piloted the team downfield for another score. The 6-foot-3 junior opened the drive with a 10-yard gain, then connected on a 52-yard pass play to give the Flaming Hearts first-and-goal from the 6-yard line. Three plays later, Effingham had another touchdown as Pontious ran it in; the extra point to give the Flaming Hearts a 21-8 halftime advantage.

“That was just bad coverage on our end; there’s no reason for that to happen,” Silkowski said of the 52-yard Effingham pass play. “We were in position to make the play, but we just didn’t make it. And I think then it’s a different game at the half.”

The Railer defense stood firm to open the third quarter, forcing an Effingham punt on a 3-and-out opening series. Lincoln’s offense showed some life as, two plays into the following drive, Pollice connected with Isaac Decker for a 31-yard gain. Pollice distributed the ball to three different receivers on the drive (Decker, Carson and Schilling) and Lincoln got runs from Carson and Tony Gandolfi on the drive. In the end, however, a Lincoln holding penalty and a quarterback sack by Effingham stalled Lincoln’s offense 38 yards from paydirt.

Effingham again went 3-and-out as Lincoln received the ball 62 yards from the endzone. Lincoln took the ball downfield, aided by a 15-yard penalty on the Flaming Hearts, one of Effingham’s three penalties in the game. Pollice and Carson hooked up next on a 26-yard pass play to put Lincoln three yards from the endzone, and Pollice ran the ball in with 1:08 left in the third quarter. The Railers got the extra point and moved to within a touchdown at 21-15.

Effingham notched a pair of touchdowns and an extra point in the fourth quarter to extend its lead to 34-15. Lincoln got one more TD on a 15-yard connection from Pollice to Carson. Leadley’s PAT made the final score 34-22.

While frustrated that Lincoln took the loss, Silkowski said that he cound see how being called for so many penalties took a toll on the Railers.

“Our kids got frustrated,” he said. “As an adult, you can sit back and say, ‘You’ve got to play through it. Play through it. Play through it.’ But when you’re physically putting your body on the line and they’re 16-, 17- some are 15-year-old kids, they’re still learning how to manage emotions.

“It’s easy to sit and fault them, but if you put yourself in their shoes, they just care so much and they’re so passionate. They wanted it so bad that they let their emotions get the better of them at times. They’re kids. They love the game and they just wanted it so bad. You feel for them in that aspect.”

Although Lincoln was pinned with a double-digit loss on the scoreboard, Silkowski said he was proud of the fact that the Railers continued to compete through the end of the game and never gave up.

“That’s one thing our kids won’t do, and I’m really proud of that, is they play hard for us and they play hard for each other,” he said. “They’re a good team and I love them to death. They’re fun to be around; they drive you nuts sometimes, but they care. And that’s all you can ask.”
Lincoln travels to Taylorville on Friday for its final Apollo Conference game of the season in a 7 PM contest.

[Loyd Kirby]

Back to top