Railer football team falls to
8th-ranked Hillsboro 49-7
[October 05, 2026]
LINCOLN, Ill. -- In a season of change, the Railer football
team has faced several hurdles.
To begin with, Railer alum Aaron Fricke took the head coaching
position at LCHS, bringing with him a new offensive playbook and his
own coaching philosophies while replacing a coach who had been at
the helm of the Railer football program for a decade.
Then after a Week 1 victory, the team had some new players join the
team, which had a ripple effect on things such as depth charts and
players’ positions.
Coming into the October 2 Homecoming game against Hillsboro, Lincoln
endured a five-game losing streak. During the skid, the Railers did
not score a touchdown on offense and were outscored on average 55-1.
While Lincoln’s offense did snap its scoring drought with a
touchdown late in the first quarter against Hillsboro, the
undefeated Hiltoppers ran their record to 6-0 with a 49-7 win over
the Railers.
With the Railers losing by 40 or more points for the sixth straight
game, casual observers might look at the team’s record and assume
Lincoln is just going through the motions. And while head coach
Aaron Fricke would love for his team to have a few more victories on
the ledger, this season of transition for the Railers isn’t just
about wins and losses.
“You point out the good things after games,” Fricke said. “It just
gets tough, because I know they want to win. But I really did stress
that tonight, that over the last couple weeks, I do feel like
they've made improvements. I wish it showed more on the scoreboard.”
With a listed enrollment of 400 according to the IHSA web site, the
Hiltoppers entered the game against Lincoln rated No. 8 in the
latest IHSA Class 3A state rankings. And it did not take long for
Hillsboro to flex its offensive prowess, scoring on a 46-yard run
only 55 seconds into the game to take a 7-0 lead.
The Railers were eventually forced to punt on their first
possession. Hillsboro drove the ball downfield but the defense held
as Seth Durbin recovered a fumble by the Hiltoppers on the 10-yard
line to keep the visitors out of the end zone. Lincoln got a couple
nice plays from scrimmage but again punted to the Hiltoppers, who
promptly drove the ball to the 1-yard line before finding the end
zone again to take a 14-0 lead.
On the touchdown play, Hillsboro was flagged for unsportsmanlike
conduct. That foul was assessed on the ensuing kickoff, and the
Hiltoppers decided to try an onside kick in an attempt to get the
ball back. However, the Railers recovered, giving them excellent
field position on the Hillsboro 43-yard line. Freshman Kruz Froebe,
getting the lion’s share of playing time at quarterback in the game
as Kane Komnick was still recovering from a knee injury suffered the
previous week, hit Durbin on a 7-yard pass play to give the Railers
their first offensive touchdown since Week 1 in their 40-20 win
against Manual. The Lincoln touchdown with 36.3 seconds remaining in
the period pulled the Railers to within 14-7 going into the second
quarter.
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From that point, all the scoring in the remainder of the contest was
by the visitors. Just 86 seconds into the second period, Hillsboro
added a touchdown on a 54-yard run. That was the first of three
second-quarter touchdowns, the last of which came on a short pass
play as the Hiltoppers used excellent clock management in setting
themselves up for a 5-yard touchdown pass play with 5.6 seconds
remaining in the first half. That made the score 35-7 at
intermission.
Lincoln had opportunities in the second half to make the game closer
but the Railers were unable to capitalize. With 6:36 left in the
third quarter, Froebe hit Paxton Lora on a 34-yard pass play and an
apparent touchdown, but officials ruled that Lora’s knee was down
before the ball crossed the plane of the goal line, giving Lincoln
1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line. However, the Railers came up
empty again, as Hillsboro recovered a loose ball on the ensuing play
to quash the Lincoln scoring threat. Lincoln argued that the ball
was transferred on a toss forward from Froebe to Durbin, making it a
forward pass play that should have been ruled an incomplete pass
rather than a fumble. The officials held a lengthy discussion but
did not see things that way, ruling it to be a fumble and giving
possession to Hillsboro.
The Hiltoppers then drove to the Lincoln 9-yard line, where they
fumbled the ball away to the Railers. Lincoln moved the ball away
from the end zone before getting it to Jacob Long on a reverse. He
scampered 70 yards to the end zone, but the play was called back due
to a Railer holding penalty.
Hillsboro then added two more touchdowns in the final period to make
the final score 49-7.
As the Railers look toward what they hope to be more competitive
games against Lanphier and Southeast in the remaining weeks of the
regular season, Fricke said he appreciates the mental outlook of his
squad while acknowledging there are still improvements he hopes to
make.
“We don't tackle well, and I told the kids we're not tackling well,”
Fricke said. “But it's not for a lack of effort. It's not for lack
of toughness. There's just a lot of things we've got to improve on
and that I've got to do a better job on. But I'm very proud of the
way that they fought tonight.”
Lincoln holds its final home game of the season October 9 against
Lanphier. The Railers then travel to Springfield to take on
Southeast in the season finale.
[Loyd Kirby]
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