Railer football team overcomes
early deficit, opens season with 40-20 victory
[August 22, 2026]
LINCOLN -- “You never get a second chance to make a first
impression,” according to an old advertising slogan. However, in the
case of the LCHS Railer football team, the squad did just that in a
40-20 season-opening victory Friday at Handlin field.
Things weren’t going Lincoln’s way early on, as Manual utilized its
athleticism early in the game. After a meager return of the opening
kickoff, the Rams promptly moved the ball into Railer territory on a
45-yard pass play. The visitors followed that by gaining 30 yards on
a quarterback keeper. Manual was knocking on the door, close to
putting the ball in the endzone. However, thanks to some stingy
Railer defense along with a penalty, the Rams failed to score as
they turned the ball over on downs.
Lincoln took the ball and was approaching midfield when the Railers
lost a fumble to give Manual possession. A few plays later, Manual’s
B.J. Maxison, sporting No. 1 on his jersey, scampered into the
endzone on a short run. The Rams were successful on the two-point
conversion to take an 8-0 lead.
With a football program history fraught with more frustration than
success in recent seasons, it would be understandable if LCHS
football fans were thinking, “Here we go again.” The Rams hit for
big gains on their first possession, then took the lead by scoring a
touchdown following a Railer turnover; that series of events
probably seemed very familiar to followers of the Lincoln football
program.
This game marked the first varsity football game played on the newly
renovated all-weather turf field. And it was the first game for LCHS
alum Aaron Fricke as Railer football coach. On a night of firsts and
things anew at Handlin Field, the stage was set for Lincoln to
establish a new identity for the football program.
One game does not a season make, but the majority of the rest of the
game was all Lincoln. The Railer defense that gave up the long early
plays made some adjustments and stifled the Manual offense. On the
other side of the ball, Lincoln used an assortment of players and
plays to find its footing offensively, so much so that the Railers
scored 40 unanswered points.
Seth Durbin got Lincoln on the scoreboard with a 10-yard touchdown
run just before the end of the first quarter. Reece Warner rambled
in from six yards out for another Railer touchdown. Colby Merriman
recovered a Manual fumble on an unusual punt attempt. to give
Lincoln a short field and allow Warner to score again a few plays
later. That gave the Railers an 18-8 advantage at halftime.
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Following intermission, Kaeden Wilkerson caught a pass in the
endzone from Logan White for the only Railer touchdown in the
quarter, extending the Lincoln lead to 26-8.
In the final period, Warner scored his second touchdown on a short
run. Not to be outdone, Durbin then caught a touchdown pass from
Logan Davenport to score his second touchdown of the night to put
LCHS up by a score of 40-8.
Lincoln gave up a couple late touchdowns, including one on the final
play of the game to make the score 40-20 and allow the game to seem
it was closer than it actually felt.
Despite allowing the late scores, the excitement and optimism
following the victory was apparent among those with the football
program.
“Previous opening nights, it wasn’t as we expected,” said Railer
senior Seth Durbin. “It wasn’t as we wanted. This year, we’ve got
the new field, and we executed as we wanted to. We played together;
we’ve been doing this since the offseason. We’ve been staying
together as a team through the offseason, and we kept the intensity
through the entire thing.”
“It was way different,” said junior Reece Warner. “On the first
touchdown, people didn’t give up. They started to drop their heads,
but they knew if we give up, their not going to get this game.”
“This is the part about Lincoln I’ve always loved,” said head coach
Aaron Fricke. “We weren’t always the most successful at football,
but the town has always come out to football games. And there’s a
lot of people that want to see things turned around. And I think we
all feel that, especially those of us who played here.”
The undefeated Railers head to southern Illinois on August 28 to
take on Marion High School in a 7 PM game.
Lincoln Railer Football vs
Manual highlights video
[Loyd Kirby]
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