Railers drop season opener to Rochester 48-6

[August 27, 2011]  Defeating a speedy Rochester squad was bound to be a tall enough task as it was.

The defending Class 4A state champions, with their explosive offensive attack, didn't need any help from the Railers in the season-opening contest at Handlin Field.

But, unfortunately for Lincoln fans, the Railers made things too easy on the Rockets at times.

Turnovers, surrendering big plays and a few costly penalties resulted in a 48-6 loss for the home team.

The early combination of Lincoln's mistakes and Rochester's ability to capitalize on the offensive end resulted in a 28-6 halftime deficit.

"The first half, there were six incidents: two turnovers, two long passes -- one of which was played pretty good -- and then two dumb penalties," said head coach Andy McDonald. "Other then that, I thought it was a pretty good first half. It was a competitive game and we were still in it.

"We've got a lot of guys that go both ways, and we probably weren't in shape to finish the second half strong and play the second half like we did the first half."

The game got off to a roaring start for the Railers, thanks to a lengthy opening kickoff return by senior Logan Armbruster into Rochester territory.

But Lincoln's momentum was quickly stunted when a botched snap cost the Railers their first play from scrimmage. Disaster struck again two plays later, when Lincoln picked up a delay of game penalty on fourth-and-inches. On fourth-and-six, Lincoln failed to convert, handing the ball over to Rochester.

Although the Railers held the Rocket offense from scoring on the ensuing possession, Rochester would score quickly on both their second and third possessions to jump out to a 14-0 lead.

Led by bulldozing fullback Andy Krusz, the Railers put up some resistance in an 81-yard second-quarter drive that was capped by an 11-yard Krusz touchdown run that cut the Rocket lead to 14-6.

But, aided by two Lincoln fumbles, Rochester rattled off two more touchdown strikes in the first half, taking their three-touchdown lead into halftime intermission and never looking back.

Speed was clearly the Rockets'  biggest advantage over the Railers in the eyes of McDonald.

"They're obviously very good," he said. "They're a very fast team: very fast and aggressive. A lot of that team speed comes from aggressiveness.

"You really can't simulate (the speed), unless you could bring in someone from the outside who's faster than we have, and you can't really do that. It's a struggle to simulate that. But, we've just got to have more guys flying to the ball."

Krusz finished the night with 110 yards on 15 carries for the Railers. Quarterback James Leisinger finished the night 4-for-8 for 39 yards through the air, along with 29 yards rushing. Armbruster caught two passes for 22 yards. As a team, Lincoln finished with 180 yards rushing on 49 carries.

Lincoln will look to put Friday's disappointment behind them quickly, as they will go on the road to play Canton next week. The Railers defeated Canton 49-33 at Handlin Field last season.

The coaches will analyze the Rochester film. But beyond that, the Rockets will be forgotten for the remainder of the season.

"We want to see what we did, what certain individuals did and what we can do better," said McDonald. "We're not going to focus on Rochester anymore. We're going to focus on what we can do better and see if we can see what Canton might do and if we can get some film from them.

"But, tonight, the first half, we beat ourselves. The second half, we may have let down a little bit and got fatigued. When you get fatigued, you get weak-minded. And that's something we'll work on next week." 

[By JUSTIN TIERNEY]