Railers shutout 14-0 in 2019 Football season opener

[September 03, 2019] 

Opening night at Handlin Field for the 2019 Railsplitters had a certain excitement in the air as fans were more than ready to spend the evening enjoying football. Fans gathered around to tailgate early and enjoy free hotdogs and brats and play games. As the stands filled and the introductions began, it all lived up to the hype. The band, the cheerleaders and the Railettes all kept the crowd pumping and at promptly 7 p.m. it was time for kickoff.

Lincoln was facing Limestone Community High School in this first week of football and with the Rockets winning the coin toss, they chose to kickoff against Lincoln.

It would be 5'8 senior running back Brandon Sweitzer on the kickoff return for Lincoln.

First quarter action would be nothing to write in the scoring column as the teams ended the first twelve minutes of action knotted at zero. But the defense for both teams was outstanding and fun to watch.

The Rockets would score a touchdown in the second quarter when Travis Lutz carried the ball one yard with 5:36 showing on the clock. The extra point by Mason Mullins was good and the Rockets were in front 7-0.

The score stayed 7-0 until 1:23 left in the game. A 16-yard run by Davian Nunez of the Rockets would be the second touchdown of the game by Limestone and with the extra point good again, the score was now 14-0.

No chance for Lincoln to win this game now.

The Railers take a tough 14-0 loss in week one.

Lincoln head coach Matt Silkowski could not hide the disappointment of the loss when offering his postgame comments. "The defense played well at times," said Silkowski. "But we played sloppy football at key times that led to some penalties that gave them an opportunity to score pretty easily. We can't do that. We can't do that. It's very disappointing. We can't do that. Obviously, we have a lot to learn from. We had a lot of opportunities tonight. We just didn't take care of our business. We weren't taking care of our responsibilities and the things we're supposed to do and we go exposed. We have to figure out what we're going to do, whether it be personnel changes or just make sure we get better each practice and try to get this thing turned around."

The Railers open Apollo Conference play at Effingham next Friday night. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

[Teena Lowery]