Different year, similar results: Railer football team again decisively beats Clinton in season opener

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[August 27, 2022]  Lincoln –As many residents of Lincoln watched hot air balloons soar to the skies Friday evening, just down Route 10 in Clinton, the Railer football team was reaching heights of its own as Lincoln defeated Clinton 28-0 in the 2022 season opener.

One year ago in the first game of the 2021 season, LCHS beat Clinton 58-6 in Lincoln. While Lincoln didn’t rack up as many points in this year’s season opener against the Maroons, there were still a few parallels.

In 2021, a player named Carson made a key play soon after the opening kickoff, as Railer Kani Carson intercepted a Clinton pass on the third play of the game and started turning the momentum Lincoln’s way. In 2022, it was two plays after the opening kickoff whenKi’on Carson ran the ball 50 yards into the endzone for Lincoln’s opening score.

Ki'on Carson

Ki’on Carson unofficially amassed 100 yards on 12 carries for Lincoln. The junior running back also scored on touchdown runs of 2 yards and 1 yard and he found the endzone later in the first quarter on a catch-and-run 64-yard pass play touchdown from Railer quarterback Darren Stevens to put Lincoln up 14-0.

Railers at Clinton: Carson TD #1 Video: https://youtu.be/c_FKmvyAcf0

Lincoln head coach Matt Silkowski said Lincoln tried getting a fifth touchdown for Carson on Friday night to tie the LCHS record for most touchdowns in a game held by Railer recordholder Titus Cannon, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Railers at Clinton 8-26-22: Carson TD #2 Video: https://youtu.be/FL_6szHm-r8

“We were trying to get him that fifth one late to tie Titus’ record, but we’ll go 1 and 0; that’s really the only stat line that matters,” Silkowski said. “I told the kids that; some of them were talking about what they wanted to do tonight, but I just wanted to go 1 and 0. And they did too; at the end of the day, everyone’s happy; they’re not upset by it.”

Carson got his third touchdown in the second quarter on a 2-yard run. His final score of the night came on a 1-yard plunge into the end zone with 6:34 left in the third quarter. Angel Haro was perfect on all four extra point attempts for the Railers as Lincoln won 28-0.

Isaac Decker

While Carson did all the scoring for the Railers and tallied 100 yards unofficially, he was not Lincoln’s leading rusher in the contest. Senior running back Isaac Decker unofficially totaled 111 yards on 12 carries. Payton Bunner carried 13 times and unofficially added 56 yards.

Darren Stevens

Darren Stevens, stepping into the role of quarterback following the graduation of last year’s starter Elijah Pollice, completed 3 of 7 passes for 96 yards unofficially.

Following the Meet the Railers scrimmage on August 20, Silkowski mentioned Lincoln needed to clean up a few penalties this week against Clinton. While the Railers had mixed results in those efforts, the coach was pleased with the results for his players.

“Offensively, we did [clean things up],” he said. “I don’t think we had a false start penalty, no illegal formation, no illegal motion. Defensively, not so much. We were just undisciplined up front throughout the first half.

“We were running upfield, not sitting and reading in our lanes and they were gashing us. I kind of got on them at halftime about it, and they responded. We played much better defensively the second half and ate up a lot of clock offensively.

Tate Johnston

“For a rivalry game, to go 86 to 6 combined over two games in two years and get our first shutout for our new defensive coordinator, I’m happy for him and happy for the defensive staff.”

Silkowski attributed some of the Lincoln defensive penalties to youth.

“We have a lot of inexperience on that defensive line,” he said. “Of the four guys that started tonight, none of them had started a varsity game before. A couple of them had never played a football game before. And even a couple of the guys coming off the bench in Frank Sanders and Jerod Fults, they had never played varsity football before.

“It was definitely a learning curve for them, but once they kind of got checked at halftime there, they responded well.”

Payton Johnson

On the defensive side of the ball, Jaden Leadley shined as he picked off two Maroon passes and almost intercepted a third. Decker snagged an errant Clinton pass for an interception as well.

Payton Johnson led Lincoln with seven tackles and Tate Johnston added six. When he wasn’t picking off passes, Leadley added five tackles for the Railers.

“He’s a playmaker,” Silkowski said of the senior Leadley. “He always seems to find himself around the football. He’s been that way for a couple years. He had one really good punt. He blocked very well at tight end tonight. He had a great game.”

Jason Leadley

Railers at Clinton: Leadley interception video: https://youtu.be/hIiIGhF4tkQ

The Railers make the long haul to Charleston on September 2 for a 7 PM start to their final Apollo Conference opener. Once again, Lincoln Daily News will bring readers a game story after the contest. For those who want to follow the action live but can’t attend in person, listen on the radio to WLCN 96.3 FM or visit WLCNOnline.com and click the Watch Live or theListen Live badge to access audio or video coverage online as the game takes place.

[Loyd Kirby]