Railer football team looks to continue taking steps forward after breaking playoff drought last season

 

[August 17, 2024]  LINCOLN -- After losing several key players to graduation who helped the LCHS football team break its 40-year playoff drought last season, casual observers might believe the Railers will regress this season.

The loss of first team all-conference running back Ki’on Carson certainly leaves some big shoes to fill. In addition, several of Lincoln’s key players on both sides of the ball such as quarterback Darren Stevens, second team all-conference linebacker Colbie Glenn, running back Kani Carson, lineman Joe Dahmm, tight end Ryan Fruge moved on following their senior seasons. In all, 15 seniors from last year’s playoff team are gone, a team that went 5-4 in the regular season before losing in the first round of the playoffs to eventual Class 4A champion Rochester.

This year’s schedule also would not seem to favor the Railers, as the nine opponents on Lincoln’s 2024 schedule had a combined 47-46 overall record last season including postseason game results. In addition, five of the Railers’ opponents made the playoffs last year.

Thus, casual observers might indeed believe the Railer football program will regress a bit this year…but don’t tell the Railers that.

“When you lose a couple really big stars like we had last year, it’s kind of easy to write us off and think that we’re in a rebuild,” Lincoln head coach Matt Silkowski said following the team’s Meet the Railers scrimmage night. “But I never really felt that was the case.”

Although Lincoln did lose a significant number of seniors from last season’s playoff team, the Railers also had 13 juniors and 10 sophomores on the roster last year. After being a part of last year’s playoff run and being able to do more 11-on-11 scrimmaging over the summer thanks to IHSA rule changes, Silkowski said the team is rounding into shape nicely ahead of its season-opening game August 30 at home against Lanphier.

“Obviously, we had some big guys to replace, but I think we had the pieces here,” he said. “And some sophomores really stepped up this summer. They really bought in to what their roles were and were really dedicated to learning and stepping up, and they responded really well. We had a really good summer.”

Players echoed their coach’s optimism.

“I think we’re just looking to build on from last year and just show everyone in the conference that it wasn’t a fluke season,” said senior Gabe Smith. “We’re just looking to add on to what we did, and I think we have the pieces to do that.”

Lincoln Railers Head Coach Matt Silkowski

“Obviously, the end goal is to get back there [the playoffs] again,” said senior Tate Johnston, a 2023 second team all-conference selection on defense. “I think we need to go higher than last year. We went 5 and 5; I guess you could say it’s special for Lincoln, but we want to go higher than that.”

“I’m really looking forward to it,” added Frank Sanders, another second team all-conference selection on defense last season. “I think we can make a mark in Lincoln football history.”

While the team’s goal may still be similar to last season in wanting to reach the playoffs and advance, Silkowski said the way the team goes about trying to get there will look a bit different.

“I think our program is different now,” he said. “I think we have a different philosophy this year. I think last year, our mindset was that we wanted to turn everything into a track meet. We felt like if we got things into a track meet, we had the opportunity to be successful. I think that’s a little different now; I think we’re trying to be more physical. And so far, we’ve done some summer stuff…our kids have been pretty physical. We may not score as many points as we did last year, but I still think we can be effective and move the football and put ourselves in position to be successful.”

With IHSA rule changes, teams are now allowed to hold a preseason scrimmage against another school prior to beginning the actual season schedule of games. Lincoln will hold a scrimmage at Pleasant Plains on August 23 starting at 7 PM. The Railers will then have their first actual game when they open the 2024 season hosting Central State 8 opponent Lanphier on August 30 at 7 PM.

[Loyd Kirby]

Video - Meet the 2024 Lincoln Railers high school football kickoff