You know in horror movies when the virginal babysitter thinks that she’s finally killed that horrible, mask-wearing, bogeyman from the closet? When the monster’s been shot 7 time in the chest and stabbed and run over by the car that wouldn’t start for the first 11 tries while the heroine sobbingly struggled with the keys? When the camera suddenly zooms in on his hand and you see the fingers start to twitch? And that death-black synthesizer kicks on and you know that it’s not over, even if it should be?

That’s 2017.

It’s here. They’re here. We’re here.

In this year, two thousand and seventeen, Lincoln High school football has clawed their way out of that eight by six foot hole of mausoleum dirt and cyclical struggle and terminal teeth grinding fatigue and is somehow alive.

It’s October again and the Lincoln High Links are, appropriately, zombies.

They’re undead.

They’re terrifying and dominant and inescapably badass, with nothing to lose and a horde of wild-eyed, George A. Romero style desperate fans at their backs, they now find themselves a single game away from going undefeated for an entire regular season.

They’ve got more wins in this season than the program did from 2005–2011.

Combined.

They’re not the Browns anymore. They’re not even the Bills.

This year? They’ve been playing like the Patriots.

(Image via Lincoln Journal Star)

All of those stats that I dry-heaved out onto this post from earlier? Imagine if you took those and suddenly did a 180 degree turn. In fact,it’s more like a 540. Because, here is how this season has gone thus far:

They have scored 389 points to their opponents’ 93.

That’s 48 points per game, while allowing only 11.

Their junior QB, Cedric Case, has thrown for 325 ypg, 33 TDs and 2 ints.

They’ve got the #3 scoring offense and the #2 scoring defense in Class A.

If you’re looking for a weak link in the chain, it’s that they haven’t had much of a challenge yet. Their opponents sport a combined record of 21–43 and the closest game for the Links was a 27-point victory over Lincoln Southwest to win the city championship.

But when it comes to adversity? While this team may not have a lot of experience to draw on, this place — long shrouded in the fetid miasma of perennial losing — and these people: they have plenty to share.

Make no mistake, there can be no Renaissance without the dark ages.