Railer football enjoys team success in the short term, looks to build program success for the long term

 

[November 09, 2023] 

When the Lady Railer volleyball squad takes the floor for its match Friday at CEFCU Arena in Normal, it will be the second LCHS team participating in IHSA postseason playoffs in the past month.

The Railer football team was beaten by Rochester on October 27, the loss ended Lincoln’s season at 5-5 after LCHS qualified for the IHSA playoffs in football for the first time since 1984.

The No. 16-seeded Railers knew they were facing a big challenge in taking on top seed Rochester. While the end of any season is always met with sadness and disappointment, making it into the postseason for the first time since the Reagan administration could be a pivotal moment in the Railer football program.

The Railer football team has been on the cusp of being playoff eligible. After finishing with four wins in each of the past three non-Covid seasons prior to 2023, this year’s squad secured that elusive fifth win on September 29 when it beat Jacksonville 41-28.

So what was the reason this year’s squad was able to notch that additional victory when previous Railer teams came up short?

“I think the overall talent was better than it’s been,” Railer football coach Matt Silkowski said of this year’s team. “A lot of those kids played last year; a lot of them played as sophomores as well. So by the time they got to this year as seniors with all the experience they had--and obviously they’d grown a lot physically, we were able to be a more physical team.

“I think that was the big reason, but I think the schedule did play a part of it…it was in our favor this year playing that Central State 8 Conference schedule that we played. I think we had some more favorable matchups this year than we had the past couple years.”

In addition to talent and scheduling, Silkowski said the team’s dedication in winnable games helped this team excel and play into the postseason where previous Railer squads were unable to do so.

“The moment that I thought it [this team] was different was that, when we were playing teams that we were a lot better than, we took it to them. If we wanted to be a playoff team, when we played teams we were better than, we had to impose our will on them. And for the most part, we did that.

“After the Manual game, I felt like if we could get through Southeast and do that again, then we’ll have a shot against a Jacksonville or a U-High. In the Southeast game, I think we didn’t play very well defensively that night. Colbie [Glenn] didn’t play, we had some guys that were playing through some injuries that were worse than what the kids were telling us. We got up early on them [Southeast], and then we just kind of settled in and didn’t really impose our will that night. I think some of it was that we were looking ahead a little bit and we probably didn’t prepare that well. We didn’t have a locker room and were standing out there in the rain. There’s things, looking back, that I would’ve done differently.

“But to impose our will on those opponents was when I thought, ‘Okay, that’s what we needed to do.’ When you look at teams that go to the playoffs every year, when they play teams they’re better than, they put them on the running clock and they take care of their business. We were doing that, and that’s kind of when I knew we had a shot.”

As with any season, there are highlights that stick out. In past interviews, players on this year’s squad most often mentioned the team’s victory over Jacksonville and earning Win No. 5 as being their favorite memory of the season. Silkowski said the Jacksonville game sticks out for him as well, but for different reasons than simply Lincoln earning the victory.

“I see it through a different lens,” he said. “To me, it was just really special how they all came together throughout the week and how they prepared for it and went out and earned that victory. That preparation and how they all worked together for a common goal was why it was so important to me and why it was my favorite moment. Yeah, winning the game was really nice, but their preparation throughout the week, how they came together as a team, and their focus and drive and will to win that game was why it was most important to me.”

Once the regular season ended, the team had a week to prepare for its playoff contest against Rochester. While the game didn’t end in the result the Railers wanted, Silkowski said the experience was still a positive one for the squad.

“The pep rally was really cool that the school did for our kids that week,” he said. “The congratulatory texts from coaches in the Apollo and some guys that were rooting for you. When you get to the playoffs, the IHSA sends you a football that’s got their logo on it. Getting that ball was really cool, because you see guys on Twitter throughout the years showing off their football, and to finally get one in the mail was really cool.

“And the positives that it’s brought to the program, not just here in Lincoln but throughout the state, have been great. I’ve been asked to speak at a clinic in the winter; that was a personal goal I always wanted to do was to get asked to go and speak about our program, so I get to go to that now. That’s really cool to get to go do that and bring our program to that kind of light.”

One group Silkowski mentioned for its strong support of the team is the booster club. Silkowski said that the support of the club helps enhance the players’ experiences with the team in many ways.

“All the things our booster club does for our kids helps provide the experience that we do, and that’s important,” he said. “When you get hired, everybody’s got an opinion and why Lincoln football hasn’t been successful. One thing I kept hearing was that the kids needed a better experience and more than they were getting. And that was something that we, as a booster club, have changed in making the experience as good as we can for the kids like going to Crossing Camp, the Thursday night meals—which they did long before I got here—but just getting the kids the best of everything we can.

“We’ve come such a long way since I got here. We’ve literally changed everything except the facemask color of the helmet. Everything has been transformed since we’ve been here, and that has a lot to do with the moms and dads that have been part of our booster club throughout the years. We just keep building upon what we’re doing, and it’s just providing an experience for them. And that’s all our boosters; I don’t do anything with that.”

With 15 seniors on this season’s roster, Lincoln will lose a large contingent of players, many of whom played skill positions for the team. For any program to thrive, it must have players who can step into vacated roles without much falloff from the previous year.

Silkowski said he feels next year’s team has players who—with some schematic adjustments--will be able to do just that.

“We return four of our five linemen…so I think we’ll be pretty good up front,” he said of the Railer offense. “We return Paytan Bunner, who only got better as the year went on; he really grew into that fullback role.

“Defensively, we’ve got Frank [Sanders] back, we’ve got Tate [Johnston] back, [Alek] Claudio played some D-line as well. Zac Poole is capable of playing up front defensively. Gabe Smith is back, so one of our better corners is back.

“We do lose a lot of our scoring production, so I think it’s going to come down to making some changes to our scheme. The last three years, we’ve been living and dying on the jet sweep. Obviously, that’s going to be gone, but returning four guys up front, we’ll probably try to run it inside more and try to utilize some of the experience we have up front coming back. There will have to be some schematical changes to what we do.”

While players will step into more critical playing roles and be expected to shoulder more responsibility physically, Silkowski said next year’s squad will bring back some of the intangible qualities that helped this year’s team achieve more success this season.

“We return a lot of leadership in guys like Tate and Frank. That was something we started new this season that I picked up at a clinic where they vote on their captains every week. The kids voted each week, and if you were voted, you had to hold yourself to a different standard or you’d get voted off. Tate was the only one that was voted every single week, and he was almost every week the highest vote getter. I think we have some really strong leadership coming back and some guys that played a lot; Paytan Bunner, Jaedyn Gulley, Trent Koehler and Gabe Smith, so we’ll really look at them to have strong years for us.”

Even with a strong group of returnees, Silkowski said that adding more players to the roster would be a key ingredient in helping the team build upon the success it enjoyed this season.

“You have to hope that this brought positive light to our program so that kids want to be a part of it,” he said. “We need to keep getting more athletic kids--that maybe have not played football growing up--to give it a shot. We get a few more every year, but especially with the kids we’re losing, we have to have that. To rebuild a program, it’s not just a coach or a couple good players. You need a lot of people on board to make those things work. You don’t usually flip a high school program around overnight, and you need everybody on board to fully support what you’re trying to do. We’ve got to have other coaches encourage their kids to go out for your sport. We need more of that. It’s happening, but we need more of that.”

Senior players on the 2023-24 Railer football team include Christian Brown, Kegan Brown, Garrett Boward, Ki’on Carson, Kani Carson, Joe Dahmm, Ryan Fruge, Colbie Glenn, Owen Grant, Wyatt Gross, Angel Haro, Ryan Lichtenwalter, Trinton Miller, Darren Stevens and Evan Wachendorf.

Lincoln is scheduled to open the 2024 season August 30 at home against Springfield Lanphier.

[Loyd Kirby]