Rochester runs past Railer football team in 63-7 win

 

[September 14, 2024] 

LINCOLN – For most teams, losing its starting quarterback in the second game of the season would have a serious impact on the performance of its offensive.

Unfortunately for Lincoln, the Rochester Rockets are not like most teams.
Defending Class 4a state champion Rochester scored with a variety of weapons, jumping out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter on the way to a 63-7 win over Lincoln in the opening Central State 8 contest this season for both schools.

Head Coach Matt Silkowski

“It was a tough one,” said Lincoln head coach Matt Silkowski. “Obviously, when you play the No. 1 team in the state, you have very minimal room for error. We made some mistakes, we didn’t execute as well as we needed to at times. You can’t do that against teams like Rochester.”

It did not take long for Rochester to assert itself. The Railers punted after being unable to move the ball on their first possession, and three plays later, Tanner Biehl hit Mason Jacobs on a 14-yard pass play for a touchdown.

That was the first of three first half touchdown catches by Jacobs. He caught a 17-yard pass from Eli Carlson for Rochester’s second score. Jacobs also connected with him again, this time for a 26-yard TD strike just before halftime.

Corbin Gregory reeled off a 56-yard touchdown run for the Rockets’ other first quarter score.

Lincoln got on the board after the Rockets turned the ball over on downs, thanks in part to tight coverage by Kyle Koehler in disrupting a Rochester pass play. After a short pass to Gabe Smith, senior Paytan Bunner exploded up the middle for a 45-yard run, then followed that up with an 11-yard scamper into the end zone to get Lincoln on the board, trailing 35-7 at halftime.

Paytan Bunner

“I got phenomenal blocking up front,” said Bunner, who finished the game with 100 yards according to unofficial statistics. “Out little A-gap blocks up there, with my guy Shun Hicks and Zach Poole, they’re doing a great job blocking up there for me.”

Bunner’s touchdown run and the PAT by Jacob Long would turn out to be the Railers’ only points of the game, however. Rochester put the ball in the end zone four times in the second half as the Rockets won 63-7.

While some may look at the lopsided score and think nothing went right for the Railers, Silkowski said he saw some silver linings during the game.

“There were definitely some bright spots,” he said. “In the second part of the second quarter, we played really tough. We made a good stand in their last drive of the second half, so there were some good things there.

“We kind of knew going in that the margin for error was so minimal, and they [Rochester] did a good job.”

The victory was career win no. 200 for Rochester head coach Derek Leonard.
The loss drops Lincoln to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the Central State 8 Conference. The Railers travel to Normal on September 20 for a 7 PM conference game against U-High at Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University.

Loyd Kirby