High School Football Previews: Lincoln Christian aims to bounce back from 3-6 record in 2025 with ‘tight knit’ group

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Week one of the high school football season is officially here and one game on Friday night will be for a trophy.

The annual Spirit Sword matchup between Lincoln Christian and Lincoln Lutheran will hit Pius X’s Aldrich Field at 7 p.m. and the Crusaders come in to the new campaign following what head coach Kurt Earl called a ‘tremendous offseason.’

“I think we have been in sort of this pattern where we have kind of a 3-6 year and then we make the playoffs the next year,” Earl said on Monday at Lincoln Christian High School. “I think that these guys understand some of the attention to detail and some of the little things that we’ve got to improve on. And then, a lot of them have a lot of experience too from that team a year ago. So we’re excited about what could happen this season. Great spring, great summer, great fall camp. So there’s a lot of proof there to show that we have what it takes to be competitive and be a really good team in the class.”

Senior Cooper Torell said the 3-6 record in 2025 is a big motivator for the team.

“New team, new focus. Just, like, week one, we’re ready. We’re poised,” Torell said. “I feel like we got a good group of guys. We’re young but we have lots of experience. We’re ready. I mean, new fuel.”

Torell highlighted some key moments during the offseason for Christian that has them ready to go for this season.

“We went to a couple team camps, especially the one in Wayne. Wayne State,” Torell said. “We played pretty good against top opponents, like top Class B opponents, top Class A opponents. And that just gives us even more confidence considering we’re a Class C school and we can compete against some of the big dogs.”

Even though it’s a smaller roster for a team, Torell says that only makes them stronger.

“Means we’re more tight knit,” Torell said. “I feel like just the brotherhood in this team is the best it has been in years and we all love each other. We all trust each other.”

With Friday’s opener now ever so close, Earl said there’s a few simple things to keep in check for his guys as they get ready for game one.

“It’s the battle for the . . . Spirit Sword, it’s one of the unique traditions in the whole state,” Earl said. “It’s a ton of fun and you got to have your emotional level really high and then your ability to execute calm and cool under all that. So we just got to handle the emotions and just have fun with it.”

Christian begins the 2026 campaign Friday night at 7 p.m. against Lincoln Lutheran at Pius X’s Aldrich Field.