By TYLER HENRY
JC Post contributor
The 2022 campaign has been an up-and-down affair for the Herington Railers, who will officially enter the final two games of their season at 2-4.
After dropping a pair of blowouts at the hands of Wakefield and Lyndon to open the campaign, Herington decimated their rivals from Rural-Vista in a 48-0 shutout to get back to 1-2 heading into week four.
While the Railers have fallen to three tough opponents on the field since then, a forfeit from Pretty Prairie gives them a win on their resume as Herington looks to put the pieces together down the home stretch.
Despite their struggles, the attitude in the Herington locker room has been a positive one, and the team remains committed to improvement in the final two weeks of the regular season.
“There has been a lot more resilience in our kids as the season has gone on,” Railers head coach Boyd Peterson said. “Even in a tough loss to Little River, we’ve seen that continue to develop. These guys have more fight in them and that’s been encouraging to see.”
That fight helped Herington hang with a tough 4-2 Goessel team, and will be the basis for their optimism heading into a season-defining matchup with Solomon this week.
“We told our guys that this week will make or break our season,” Peterson said. “This matchup is our Super Bowl. We know nothing is going to be given to us and we told the guys you’ve got to go out there and take this.”
Statistically, the Railers have been led by the backfield trio of Cameron Svitak, Justin Widler, and Tyus Becker, who have combined for over 600 yards on the ground so far this season.
Widler, who leads the team with over 250 rushing yards, has been good in the passing game as well, tacking on another 200 yards through the air with three touchdowns and no picks through five weeks.
Much of the Railers’ offensive success can also be attributed to a big O-Line that has developed well as the season has progressed.
“Our O-Line has remained our strength and we can count on those guys to get us a surge on any down,” he said. “If it’s third and less than three I’ll take our chances against most teams in the state.”
Defensively Herington will need to tighten things up down the stretch after allowing 40 or more points in four of their six games this season.
Going into the final two matchups, keeping level heads will remain imperative for a Railers squad that has done a good job or remaining positive through adversity this season.
“Our effort and attitude have remained more positive than I think it would have in other years,” Peterson said. “We still have problems keeping our cool at times but we’re developing that resiliency and focusing on the bigger picture.”
Herington will close out their campaign with a week seven matchup at home against Solomon before closing out their regular season in Moundridge.