 The Lincoln Railers won the
opening toss and elected to receive to start the game. The Railers
were
able to move the ball a little on their first possession but stalled
out, and Jacksonville took over.Justin Herron put up the first
points for Jacksonville with a long run to the end zone with 8:06
left in the first quarter. Zack Dewitt added the extra point to make
the score 7-0.
Lincoln's next offensive possession didn't fare too well either.
The Railers were held to a 3-and-out and were forced to punt deep
into their own territory. Grant Cooper couldn't handle the high snap
from Ethan Kunkel and was forced to kick the ball out the back of the
Railers'
own end zone, which resulted in a safety for Jacksonville. The
Crimsons had a 9-0 lead with 5:51 to go in the first quarter.
Lincoln could not get the offense going, and
Jacksonville was able to take advantage. On the Crimsons' following
possession, Jacksonville quarterback Zac Lonergan hooked up with
wide receiver Kody Wood on a long touchdown pass for the second
score on the night. Dewitt's point after was good, and just like
that, Jacksonville took a 16-0 lead over the Railers with 5:02 left
in the first quarter.
Kick returner Brent Metelko gave the Railers good field position
as he was able to return the kickoff for a big return. With the good
position, Lincoln was able to move the ball via run and pass.
The Railers were forced to take a timeout to regroup and catch their
breath as well as rehydrate, which seemed nearly impossible on this
hot, humid and muggy Friday night.
On their next play after the timeout, quarterback Austin Krusz
threw a pass over the middle to Metelko. Metelko was able to make a few
moves and cuts to cross the goal line and give the Railers their
first touchdown of the year, but more important, draw closer to the
Crimsons. The Railers then lined up to attempt a 2-point conversion,
but they weren't able to execute the play from what looked like a fumbled
snap between the center and the quarterback.
Jacksonville answered with a decent kick return of their own. And
with 1:51 to go in the first quarter, Jacksonville running back No.
32 Justin Herron scored his second touchdown of the quarter with a
long run off the left side of the field. Dewitt missed the extra
point, and the first quarter finally came to an end with a score of
22-6.
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The second quarter didn't start very well either. Running
back Metelko was unable to play the rest of the game due to heat
exhaustion. And on Lincoln's first possession in the second
quarter, Krusz threw an interception to Lonergan of
Jacksonville. Lonergan was stopped just short of the goal line
on the return. However, he was able to plow his way over the
goal line on a quarterback sneak with 9:23 left in the second.
The extra point was good, and Jacksonville extended their lead
to 29-6.
Lincoln's second possession of the second quarter didn't produce
any results, and the Railers were forced to punt again.
From then on it was all Jacksonville. They scored again with 6:36
to go in the first half on a pass from Bryce Schnitker to Dillon
Pennell. The
point after was good, to make the score 36-6.
Jacksonville would go on and score two more times before the
half. One of the touchdowns was a return of a blocked punt, and the
other was a pass to Division I recruit Blake Hance. The score at
halftime was 49-6.
When the Railers returned from their halftime break, they were
without two of their key starters. Center Ethan Kunkel had a hand
injury, possibly a broken bone, and will have X-rays. Shawn Cannon
couldn't continue in the second half due to cramping. The trainers
worked on him all second half to try to get him back in the game but
were unsuccessful.
The third and fourth quarters went by real fast because of a high
school rule that when a team is up by 40 points or more, there will
be a running clock.
Jacksonville finished the scoring with a rushing TD from Joe
Brannan to make the final score 56-6.
Although the scoreboard didn't show it, there were a lot of
bright spots for the Lincoln Railer football squad.
Coach Andy McDonald said he thought his team "played hard and
competed, but was just outmatched by a bigger, stronger and faster
team."
McDonald was also pleased with how kids stepped up to fill in
some of the positions that were vacated due to injuries.
The Lincoln Railers travel to Memorial Stadium in Springfield
next Friday, Sept. 6, to take on the Lanphier Lions. Kickoff is at 7
p.m.
[By
SCOTT KIRBY] |
