Railer football team looks to show right stuff, take next step in season opener at Lanphier

 

[August 25, 2023] 

As the newest member of the Central State 8 Conference, some might think that makes members of the Lincoln Railer football team the new kids on the block as Lincoln opens its season tonight at Lanphier High School in a 7:30 p.m. contest.

And while more than 30 years have passed since the boy band “New Kids On The Block” had their first No. 1 single, the title of that tune--Step By Step--might serve well as a theme for this year’s Lincoln football squad.

“We’re hoping to get that next step in our program,” said LCHS head coach Matt Silkowski. “We’ve just kind of taken strides every year, and we just want to keep getting better.”

Looking at the team’s roster, it appears the Railer squad will have the right stuff as it reaps the benefits of having a young team last year. Last year’s 38-man roster included 13 sophomores and two freshmen, meaning almost 40 percent of the Railer roster consisted of underclassmen. This year’s list of varsity players includes 10 sophomores and no freshman on the 40-man, or only 25 percent underclassmen.

In addition, only 10 seniors were listed on the team’s roster last season, while 15 are included this year. Translation: while roughly one quarter of the team was seniors last season, this year’s squad is composed of almost 40 percent seniors.

According to Silkowski, that should help this year’s team absorb the loss of some of its key players from a season ago.

“We lost some big, key names…guys that played a lot for us over the three years,” he said, a reference to the lost season due to Covid. “But I think these guys are ready to step in and replace them.”

Last year’s Railer squad was often in games early, but the team’s small roster numbers and many players having to play on both offense and defense seemed to take a toll later in the game. While no one could question the effort of the Railer players as they continued hangin’ tough and competing until the end of the game, the final score usually was not indicative of the effort players put forth.

Last year’s squad compiled a 4-5 overall record, matching the record of the 2021-22 team. That marked the first time the Railers have had consecutive seasons of at least four wins since John Oaks led Lincoln to identical 4-5 records in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.

While last year’s Railer team sometimes took its lumps last year on the scoreboard, the silver lining was the varsity experience players gained last year. While many teams might suffer a setback in bringing new players into the system following the loss of a quarter of its roster due to graduation, Silkowski said this squad should be well equipped to stay the same and handle the transition.

“We really only lost four starters from last year’s team, so we’re just kind of reloading and just getting better,” Silkowski said. “[There are] no major position changes from guys; we’re just trying to get better.”

Ki'on Carson

Lincoln does return many of its statistical leaders from last season, including leading rusher and receiver Ki’on Carson. The 5-foot-8 senior rushed for 13 touchdowns last season, compiling 591 yards on 86 carries for an average of 6.87 yards per carry. In addition, Carson led Lincoln with 304 receiving yards, snagging 18 passes (16.88 yards per catch), including two for touchdowns.

Carson enters the season needs seven rushing touchdowns to set a new school record for rushing touchdowns in a career at LCHS.

Also returning is starting quarterback and leading passer Darren Stevens. The 6-3 senior threw for 1,014 yards last season, completing 58 of 119 passes (48.8 percent) while throwing seven touchdowns and only two interceptions.

Colbie Glenn

Tate Johnston

On the defensive side, while Lincoln lost its Nos. 1 and 3 tacklers from a year ago in Isaac Decker and Payton Johnson, the Railers return their second-leading tackler (Tate Johnston), their No. 4 tackler (Colbie Glenn) and in all six of the team’s 10 leading tacklers from last season.

According to Silkowski, the sizeable number of returnees will allow Lincoln to find the right combination and simply retool rather than rebuild.

“We’re replacing (Jayden) Leadley with (Ryan) Fruge, who’ll be the new tight end,” Silkowski said. “The new center will be Jayce Washam. Zach Poole will step into the O-line as well. Even though we’ve returned four starters, we’re going to kind of move Frank (Sanders) off of the O-line so he can play every down on defense and be the next tackle in; we’re going to try that out.

“(Paytan) Bunner’s playing really well defensively. We’ve moved Christian Brown from corner to safety, so now we’ve got Kani (Carson) and Gabe (Smith at cornerbacks).

“But it’s really going to be the same guys as last year, just trying to get a little better and take that next step.”

With the team focusing on some returnees switching positions and stepping into starting roles, Silkowski said the team hasn’t really talked much about switching conferences this season.

“I don’t think it really matters to them,” he said. “I think they respect the opponents in the Central State 8, but they did the Apollo too. So I don’t think it really matters to them; I think they’re just excited to go out and play football again.”

Lincoln will face an athletic squad when it squares off against Lanphier. And while some may try to look at differences in opponents from the Apollo Conference versus the Central State 8, Silkowski said that in order for the Railers to have success, it will come down to basic execution.

“We know they’ve got some really good athletes, but we feel we do too,” he said. “So we’re just going to try to match that. We’ve got to stop their run, limit their big plays and tackle in space. That’s kind of our key to Friday night: ‘Don’t let them run wild on us.’ If we get an opportunity to get them on the ground, we’ve got to get them on the ground. We’ve got to move the ball and score.”

As will be the case all season, those who can not attend the game will be able to listen and watch courtesy of WLCN 96.3 FM in rural Atlanta. Those in the listening area can tune in on their radio, while folks outside the FM broadcast area can listen on computer/smart phone/tablet by using the Mixlr app/web site to receive WLCN’s broadcast. In addition, WLCN will provide live videostream coverage via its YouTube channel. To access the online audio or video stream, go to the WLCNOnline
.com home page and click the Watch live or Listen live badges.

The start time of tonight’s contest was pushed back to 7:30 PM from the original time of 7 PM due to the heat. The remainder of Lincoln’s football schedule is:

• 9/1 vs. Decatur Eisenhower

• 9/8 @ Springfield HS (at Memorial Stadium)

• 9/15 vs. Peoria Manual HS (Homecoming game)

• 9/22 @ Springfield Southeast HS

• 9/29 vs. Jacksonville HS

• 10/6 vs. Rochester HS

• 10/13 @ Normal U-High (at ISU’s Hancock Stadium)

• 10/20 @ Chatham Glenwood HS

All games take place on Fridays; after this week’s game at Lanphier, the scheduled start time of all remaining games is 7 p.m.

[Loyd Kirby]