Believe the hype: No. 3-ranked Glenwood lives up to billing, beats Railers 56-0

[October 11, 2025] 

LINCOLN – It’s safe to say hip hop music group Public Enemy never watched the Glenwood football team play, because if they did, Chuck D and the other band members would definitely believe the hype.

The Titans came into their game at Lincoln with a perfect 6-0 record and sitting in the No. 3 spot in the latest Associated Press IHSA Class 6A rankings. Glenwood also was the No. 2-ranked team in the latest Class 6A rankings by the web site MaxPreps.com. In addition, the Titans came into the game against the Railers averaging almost 48 points per game offensively while allowing an average of just over 13 points per contest. The Glenwood defense also held three of its six opponents prior to the game against Lincoln scoreless.

Meanwhile, Lincoln has gone 1-5 in its first six games of the season, averaging just over 12 points per contest while giving up 36 points per game.

The result when the two teams squared off Friday night was a decisive 56-0 victory by Glenwood on Senior Night at Lincoln.

“They’re really good,” said Railer head coach Matt Silkowski after the game. “They’re No.1 in [Class] 6A in playoff points for a reason. We knew they were really good, and before the game, we talked to the kids about what we wanted to see tonight and be positive, and the big one offensively was not putting the ball on the ground. And we did that; we didn’t fumble the ball tonight, which was really good off last week because we had a lot of turnovers. To have zero turnovers tonight was a really big step for us.”

It took all of 20 seconds for Glenwood to get on the scoreboard. Larry Wills had a little trouble pickup up the ball on the opening kickoff, but once he did, he streaked 89 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. The ensuing PAT put the Titans up 7-0.

The Railers went three-and-out and punted on their first possession. Four plays later, Wills snagged a 3-yard pass from Colten Knoedler and scored to double the Glenwood advantage.

Following another Lincoln punt, the Titans moved the ball downfield. Blake Lehnen ran for another Glenwood touchdown on a 13-yard play.

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Then with just over two minutes left in the first period, Glenwood’s Dylan Huff returned a punt 51 yards to extend the Titan lead to 28-0.

The Titans got another touchdown from Lehnen on a 24-yard run. Then Knoedler connected with Henry Rose for a 62-yard touchdown strike to make the score 42-0.

Dorian Jeffries scored on a 41-yard run to increase the Titan lead to 49-0 at halftime.

The second half was played with a running clock. Lincoln held the Titans just a single touchdown in the second half, the final score of the game, when Alonso Burrow ran the ball in from 48 yards out to make the score 56-0.

Lincoln was never able to generate anything offensively, as evidenced by the 26 total offensive yards gained for the entire game by the Railers. Meanwhile, the Titans pretty much moved the ball at will, amassing 418 offensive yards in the contest.

Glenwood gained 14 first downs in the game without allowing Lincoln to get any. The Railers had 19 net yards rushing and 7 net yard passing while Glenwood compiled 274 rushing and 144 passing.

However, Silkowski found some silver linings in the Railers’ play in spite of the 56-0 final score. He cited improved play by quarterback Briggs Davenport as one improvement he noticed.

“I thought Briggs took a big step tonight,” Silkowski said. “He got the ball out of his hand and went to the right place with it.”

Overall, Silkowski sounded pleased with his team’s overall performance against the juggernaut known at the Glenwood Titan football team.

“There was definitely some positives there and some things for us to build on for next week,” Silkowski said.

The Railers host Quincy Notre Dame in a rare Saturday afternoon contest next week at Handlin Field. Kickoff for the October 18 game is scheduled for 1 o’clock.

[Loyd Kirby]

 

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