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 A string of
penalties and turnovers in the second quarter held the four time
state champs to just 28 points for most of the first half.
“The first
quarter we looked good,” Rochester Head Coach Derek Leonard said
after his team’s 52-0 victory. “The second quarter we didn’t look as
good. But give credit to (Lincoln.) They kept playing and caused a
few turnovers.”
The Railer
defense forced three turnovers, two fumbles and an interception.
Senior Griffin
Pollock forced one of the fumbles when he delivered a stinging hit
to a Rocket ball carrier.
“I was just
doing my job,” Pollock said. “I was told to blitz, and whenever I
was told to blitz I went after the quarterback.”
Friday was
Pollock’s first game in a while; he was benched for two games.
“It felt great
coming back,” Pollock said. “I missed being out there. I didn’t like
not being (on the field) and letting my team down.”
Pollock’s tough
defense was one of the few bright spots for the Railsplitters.
“Griffin was
playing hard tonight,” Lincoln Head Coach Andy McDonald said. “He
was being very aggressive and flying to the ball. He was playing at
his highest speed. That’s what I want the guys to do.”
But the high
speed defense was outgunned by the Rockets’ interstellar offense.
Rochester put
up nearly 500 yards of total offense. Senior running back Evan
Sembell scored a couple of touchdowns and easily ran around most
Lincoln defenders.
But coach
McDonald said there are some positive takeaways.
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“Our guys kept
playing hard and our defense was battling,” McDonald said. “When you
continue to battle you can even get great teams to make mistakes.”
The Railer
offense struggled to move the ball, but the cool and rainy
conditions did not help much.
Friday’s
match-up at Rochester was the first football game to feel like fall.
In addition to
temperatures that fell into the 40s by the end of the game,
Rochester added to the fall feel with its homecoming celebration.
For Lincoln,
homecoming comes next week with a game at Handlin Field against the
Decatur MacArthur Generals.
“It’s a fun
week for the players. It is a challenging week for them to keep
their focus on the game and not get distracted throughout the week,”
Coach McDonald said about the Railer celebrations. “We always ask
(the team) to have a great focus and show some maturity and keep the
focus on the game.”
Lincoln moves
to 0-6 on the season, they will host Decatur MacArthur Friday at
Handlin Field.
Rochester moves
to 6-0 for 2014, they will next face off against the Jacksonville
Crimsons in the Rockets’ final home game of the year next week.
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