Railer football team makes the plays it needs in win over Charleston, moves record to 2-0

[September 04, 2021]  “When we needed a play, we made a play.”

Those words from Lincoln head football coach Matt Silkowski best characterized Friday’s 14-6 win at home over Charleston, moving the Railers to 2-0 for the first time in a long while and opening the team’s Apollo Conference schedule with a victory.

“That was what we talked about before we came out,” Silkowski said following the win. “I talked about opportunity in this game, and if you get an opportunity to make a play, you’ve got to make it. For the most part, we did tonight.”
The game was contested throughout and was not in hand for Lincoln until the final 30 seconds. The Railers opened the scoring with 5:49 left in the first quarter as Isaac Decker scored on a 16-yard touchdown run. Senior quarterback then found Decker on a pass play for the 2-point conversation as Lincoln went up 8-0.

The score remained 8-0 until the third quarter when Charleston quarterback Jack Nelson scampered into the end zone for a touchdown with 6:43 left in the stanza. A failed 2-point conversion left the score at 8-6 to set up a dramatic fourth quarter, as the Trojans stayed within striking distance of Lincoln until the final 30 seconds of the game.

Ki'on-Carson

With Pollice at the helm, the Railers began orchestrating an impressive drive to end the third quarter following Charleston’s lone touchdown. Starting from its own 20-yard line, Lincoln advanced the ball to the Charleston 20-yard line to end the third quarter, chewing up the remaining 6:43 of the quarter. Key plays in the quarter included a 10-yard run by Ki’on Carson, a 3-yard run on third down by Tony Gandolfi to make a first down and a third down 15-yard run by Pollice to maintain possession with another first down.

The Railers opened the fourth quarter with the 8-6 lead and the ball on Charleston’s 14-yard line. Five plays later, Carson found the endzone on a 2-yard touchdown run with 10:36 left in the game to give Lincoln a 14-6 advantage. The Railers did not score on the 2-point conversion attempt, so Charleston trailed by 8 points when receiving the ensuing kickoff from Lincoln.

The Lincoln defense rose to the occasion as Charleston quarterback Nelson was sacked on the first play after the kickoff. The Trojans could not muster any offense and punted the ball back to Lincoln following a three-and-out offensive series.

Lincoln did not fare any better, opening the drive with a penalty and turning the ball over on downs qt the Charleston 28-yard line with 7:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Charleston took to the air as four of the next five Trojan plays were passes. Nelson connected on all four pass plays, moving the ball 15, 7, 16 and 14 yards with a 3-yard running play mixed in. With the ball on Lincoln’s 17-yard line, Nelson tried to pass again but—in keeping with the “when we needed a play, we made a play” motif of the night—Carson intercepted the pass for Lincoln on the 5-yard line.

With possession deep in Charleston territory, the Railers needed a play to give them some breathing room. Keeping with the “need a play/made a play” theme on the offensive side of the ball, Carson took the handoff on Lincoln’s first play of the series and ran the ball 19 yards to the 24-yard line.
Lincoln appeared poised to put the game out of reach, but on the next play the Charleston defense stripped the ball and recovered the fumble to give the Trojans possession on Lincoln’s 24-yard line with just under 5:00 remaining.

Things were getting tight. The Railer defense needed to make a play, so it made one. On Charleston’s first possession, Lincoln senior Tony Gandolfi knocked the ball loose, Justin Wachendorf unsuccessfully tried to scoop it up before Nathan Ladage fell on the ball to return possession back to the Railers with 4:36 left. The outcome of the game was still in doubt with 46.3 seconds left and Lincoln’s offense was facing a 3rd-and-8 situation. In the spirit of making a play when the Railers needed one, Decker took the handoff on the next play and ran 12 yards for a Lincoln first down. Charleston called its last time out with 38 seconds left, but the Railers were able to run out the clock and fans streamed onto the field after time expired to partake in an impromptu 14-6 victory celebration with the players.
“I’m just super proud,” Silkowski said.

Elijah Pollice

“We’re a young team with a lot of sophomores and juniors on that field, and obviously we didn’t have much success at all in the springtime, so we’re still teaching our kids how to win and compete and finish out and close games. I think tonight was a huge step in that process.”

While the victory was a source of pride for the Railer coach, the players enjoyed the accomplishment as well.
“It feels great,” said Lincoln senior Scotty Battin, who unofficially led the Railer defense with 6 tackles and 1 assist. “We just worked out butts off all summer. To come out Week 1 and put 58 up on Clinton, we refocused our minds, and look at the scoreboard now: 14-6, and starting off 2-0. This is just huge.”

Scotty Battin

Not only was the victory itself a source of celebration for the players, but it was particularly satisfying for the upperclassmen who played in the last Lincoln game against Charleston.

“It was a great win, especially getting revenge from last time when they beat us 53-0,” said Railer quarterback Pollice, who unofficially finished 8-for-15 passing with 106 yards. “They shut us out last year, and this was just fun. It’s fun to beat a team that dominated you the year before, because they came in thinking, ‘Aw, easy win,’ and then we popped them in the mouth.”

While both the Railer offense and defense got contributions from a multitude of players, Lincoln sophomore running back Carson turned in another stellar performance, unofficially gaining 132 yards rushing on 15 plays and scoring a TD to go along with 3 receptions for 32 yards. This comes after his impressive Week 1 performance, which included unofficial totals of 5 carries, 102 yards rushing (including a 69-yard run) and 2 TDs.
“Our line is just making holes, and our lead blockers are telling me to follow them,” Carson said. “I just do what they say because they’re seniors and they know the game, so I listen to them.”
Although this is his first year starting for the varsity team, Carson said he feels he fits in with the upperclassmen on the squad.

“We’re boys, so they all mess with me in the locker room a little bit,” he said. “But on the field, we’re all just one family and play together.”
So which kind of play does Carson prefer: getting the ball into the endzone for a short touchdown run as he did against Charleston, or a longer play that showcases his speed like the Week 1 69-yard run he had against Clinton?
“Scoring touchdowns,” he said. “If you score a touchdown, you win; that’s how I think of it.”

Overall, Lincoln dominated in team offense, running 72 plays to Charleston’s 39. The Railers gained 408 yards on offense, including 298 rushing yards. Lincoln’s defense held the Trojans to 210 yards of offense, including 26 rushing yards. Lincoln was efficient on third downs, converting on 9 of 13. The Railers did amass 8 penalties for 39 yards.

While he was obviously pleased with the 2-0 start to the season, Coach Silkowski said the Railers have a few items to work on prior to their non-conference game next Friday at Jerseyville.

“We’ve got to identify the screen game, that’s just killing us,” Silkowski said. “Jerseyville I believe is a triple option team, last time I checked, so we’ve got to be very fundamentally sound in the run game next week.”

[Loyd Kirby;  pictures Courtesy of Steve Klemm Photography]