NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
LINCOLN — Last year around this time, the Lincoln Railsplitters broke a 39-year football playoff drought with a victory over visiting Jacksonville. That same playoff opportunity was there for the Railers against the same visiting school Friday night at Handlin Field.
All this week, Crimsons players wore a sticker on their helmets with the numbers “41-28” — the score of last year’s game. The message from Jacksonville coach Mark Grounds: “Let’s not let them punch their playoff ticket at our expense two years in a row.”
It was a close game for three quarters, but Jacksonville’s ground game finally wore out the Railers’ defense, en route to a 51-21 Week 9 victory that ended Lincoln’s season. The Crimsons will likely start the playoffs on the road next week, but as Grounds told his huddled players afterward, “You guys are a very dangerous 6-3 team.”
Jacksonville’s La’marion Williams runs into the end zone for a touchdown during the game against Lincoln Friday, Oct. 25, 2024.
Indeed, it will take a very good defense to stop the Jacksonville running game. Senior La’Marion Williams ran for 112 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns, and freshman Jeremiah Jackson ran for 142 yards on just seven carries in leading Jacksonville (6-3 overall). Last week, the Crimsons ran for more than 500 yards and Friday they ran for 412 more.
The runners were the stars, but the Jacksonville kicker was a major factor too. Senior Brandon Sims had a night that got him close to the all-time Illinois state record for longest field goal in a regular-season game. As it stood, Sims had to settle for a seventh-place tie for his 55-yard kick that got Jacksonville a very important three points, when it was a 7-0 game for Lincoln in the first quarter.
Sims, who also added a 48-yarder to end the first half, tied three others in…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jacksonville-improves-playoff-position-denying-051759321.html
Author : The State Journal-Register
Publish date : 2024-10-26 05:17:59
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
