Resilient Railer football team earns third win with 27-7 victory at Mattoon

[October 01, 2022]  Mattoon – What a difference a week made for the LCHS football team.

One week ago at Mt. Zion, the Railers suffered a crushing 41-14 defeat in a game LCHS head coach Matt Silkowski termed “disappointing” after watching his team’s offense struggle to find a consistent rhythm and the defense give up too many big plays against the Braves.

This week at Mattoon, Lincoln’s offense found its footing following a sluggish start and the team’s defense made stops in key situations as the Railers ended a two-game losing skid with a 27-7 victory.

“It was good to get back in the win column,” Silkowski said. “The kids played very, very well on both sides of the ball. We had a little slow start there defensively, but they answered the call.”

Darren Stevens

Each team failed to move the ball on its opening possession before Mattoon struck first with a 54-yard drive, capped by a 3-yard quarterback sneak by Greenwave sophomore Cale Kimbro in his first varsity start directing the Mattoon offense. The PAT by Mattoon gave the Greenwave a 7-0 lead with just under six minutes remaining in the opening quarter.

That score stood until the Lincoln offense began to gel as Isaac Decker scored on a 11-yard run and Angel Haro kicked the extra point to tie the game 7-7. The score could have marked a turn in the momentum of the game for Lincoln, but Mattoon ran the ensuing kickoff back to the Lincoln 35-yard line.

Colbie Glenn

Just as Mattoon was closing in on the end zone and it felt as if momentum started shifting back to the Greenwave, Railer defender Colbie Glenn stepped up and made an interception for Lincoln, stopping the Mattoon drive and giving Lincoln possession. Railer quarterback Darren Stevens directed Lincoln on an 85-yard drive which culminated with Ki’on Carson scampering into the end zone on a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Railers a 13-7 lead.

Isaac Decker

Frank Sanders

Stevens completed eight of 11 passes for 129 yards and one touchdown in his best performance thus far this season.

“That was Darren’s best game,” Silkowski said. “He made some very good throws, some very clutch throws. The receivers did a great job: [Jaden] Leadley had a phenomenal game for us, Colbie [Glenn] had a couple big catches, Gabe [Smith] had a big catch in the third.

Jaden Leadley

Gabe Smith

“The defense made plays when we had to. I’m just happy with how we played; I thought we played very well.”

Lincoln found the end zone twice more after halftime, with Jaden Leadley making an big touchdown catch on a 14-yard pass from Stevens in the third quarter and Ki’on Carson scoring on a 7-yard touchdown run in the final stanza for the final margin of victory.

Ki’on Carson

The Railers got a big performance on both sides of the ball from junior Colbie Glenn, who led the defense with 8 tackles and an interception. He also caught the longest pass of the night for Lincoln on a 42-yard play.

Also for the Railer defense, Decker tallied 7 tackles and Leadley and Christian Brown added 6 apiece.
 

Offensively for Lincoln, Ki’on Carson led the running game with 76 yards and 2 touchdowns on 15 plays. Decker added 57 yards on 9 rushes with 1 touchdown and Paytan Bunner ran the ball 8 times for 27 yards.

With the victory, Lincoln moved its record to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Apollo Conference. The Railers host Effingham on October 7 in a 7 PM game at Handlin Field in Lincoln

[Loyd Kirby; Photos by Steve Klemm]