LCHS football team shuts out
Southeast 28-0 for third win of the season
[October 17, 2026]
Springfield, Ill. -- As head coach Aaron Fricke’s inaugural
season as LCHS head football coach winds down, he has maintained
that, while wins are nice, improvement has been the main focus as he
tries to lay a foundation for future Railer football seasons.
“I wanted to improve on last year's record,” he said following the
team’s October 9 win over Lanphier. “Not for me with an ego, but
just for them to know that you are trending in the right direction
and all this work you're putting in does matter.”
As it turns out, Fricke’s team checked both boxes in its
regular-season finale at Southeast on Friday night, showing
improvement in several areas while notching a 28-0 win over the
Spartans.
The victory improves Lincoln’s overall record to 3-6 for the season.
The Railers must wait until playoff pairings are announced at 9 PM
tonight (Saturday, October 17) to find out if their season continues
with a playoff appearance.
Regardless of whether LCHS makes the playoffs, the team showed
improvement in several areas in posting its first shutout since the
Railers opened the 2024 season on August 30 with a 32-0 win over
Lanphier.
A brief mist-like light rain fell as the teams were finishing
warmups prior to the start of the game. Early on, both teams
appeared to have trouble--both figuratively and literally--in
finding their footing.
After the Spartans punted on their first possession, the Railers
couldn’t move the ball and punted it back. Southeast took over but
lost significant yardage on consecutive plays as it appeared the
Spartans had two straight errant snaps of the wet ball that
quarterback Aarin Squires could not handle. The hosts punted it back
to the Railers, and this time Lincoln moved the ball downfield.
As the scoreless game moved into the second quarter, Lincoln drove
the ball toward the Southeast end zone. With the ball on the 11-yard
line, Southeast snuffed out a potential score for the Railers as
Lincoln quarterback Kruz Froebe lofted a pass toward the end zone
that was picked off by Southeast’s Josiah Turner. The touchback gave
the Spartans possession on their own 20-yard line.
The Lincoln defense rose to the challenge, and host school was
forced to punt again. The Railers took possession near midfield but
faced a third-and-20 situation from their own 41-yard line. LCHS
receiver Riley Eilertson found some open space in the Spartan
secondary, and Froebe delivered the ball to his open teammate.
Eilertson raced downfield and neared the goal line with the ball for
the first points of the game, but Southeast’s Lamar Coleman caught
up to him and punched the ball loose just before the ball was in the
end zone. Spartan Monterrious Jones dove on the ball in the end
zone, and Lincoln came away empty again.
The game remained scoreless as the second quarter neared completion.
Lincoln had the ball on Southeast’s 5-yard line with 17.9 seconds
remaining, but the Spartan defense came up with a huge interception
in the end zone to keep the game in a scoreless tie at intermission.
Southeast opened the second half by recovering an onside kick to
give the Spartans first down at Lincoln’s 41-yard line. Southeast
drove the ball to the 27-yard line before penalties and a couple
negative-yardage plays backed them up to the Railer 43-yard line.
Southeast again punted and Lincoln took over on its own 17-yard
line.
[to top of second column] |
Lincoln failed to get a first down, and thanks to a penalty faced
fourth-and-13 from their own 14-yard line. But just as it appeared
Southeast might get the ball with its best field position of the
night, Lincoln punter Jordan Shaffer had other ideas. Shaffer has
been solid for Lincoln al season, but he may have saved his best
punt for the regular-season finale, as he uncorked a punt from his
own 5-yard line that landed on the Spartan 46-yard line, traveling
49 yards in the air. But then Lincoln got a favorable roll of the
ball, as it bounded downfield an additional 24 yards. In all, the
punt and roll covered a total of 73 yards (although Shaffer will
only get credit for 64 yards since the Railer line of scrimmage was
their own 14-yard line). By any measure, the punt by Shaffer gave
the Spartans far worse field position than it appeared they would
get.
Then Lincoln’s defense dug in and forced Southeast to go 3-and-out.
Following a short Spartan punt to give Lincoln the ball at
Southeast’s 43-yard line. Lincoln eventually faced a third-and-16
situation at midfield, but Froebe scrambled away from the Southeast
rush and found Seth Durbin for a 22-yard pass play and first down to
keep the drive alive. Two plays later, Froebe connected with Kane
Komnick on a 28-yard touchdown pass for the first points of the
game. The score remained 6-0 as the game moved into the fourth
quarter.
Both teams punted and exchanged possessions before Southeast had the
ball the Railer 26-yard line. Southeast tried to run the ball, but
his progress was stopped by Railer defenders Skyler Hoefs, Quinten
Mead and Colby Merriman. As the Spartan runner was stood up by the
Lincoln defense, Merriman appeared to jostle the ball loose. The
Railer senior scooped up the ball near the 33-yard line and ran it
67 yards for the second Lincoln touchdown of the night. Lincoln
successfully went for the 2-point conversion to make the score 14-0
with just over seven minutes remaining.
With a two-touchdown lead, the Railers appeared to play a bit more
loosely and relaxed. Hoefs led the way for a sack of the Southeast
quarterback and Hunter Clark assisted on the first Spartan play
following the ensuing kickoff. A couple plays later in a play
similar to one against Lanphier last week, Southeast tried a lateral
pass that fell to the ground, but the ball remains live on such a
pass. Recognizing that, Leland Jackson snared the ball at the
20-yard line and ran it in for another Lincoln touchdown. The PAT by
Colby Bowman made the score 21-0.
Later, Lincoln would get its final touchdown on a 3-yard run by
James Sewing. Colby Bowman kicked the extra point to make the score
28-0.
The Railers will find out if they have qualified for the playoffs at
9 PM tonight (October 17) during an announcement show available on
the NFHS Network. In addition, the brackets will be posted to the
IHSA web site as they are announced on the live show. The show is
also available locally on digital channels WCIA 49.1
(Springfield/Champaign) and WEEK/WHOI 19.1 (Peoria/Bloomington).
If Lincoln qualifies, information will be posted on WLCN’s web site,
WLCNOnline.com.
LCHS Railer football vs
Southeast highlight video
[Loyd Kirby]
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