Lincoln East’s goal for the season: ‘Proving people wrong’

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Lincoln East football is gearing up for the 26th season under the helm of head coach John Gingery.

After more than two decades coaching, having so many talented players returning can make a long-time coach smile.

“When you get those kinds of kids, it makes it pretty easy,” Gingery laughed.

Two leaders on offense quickly come to mind: junior quarterback Jeter Worthley and senior running back Dash Bauman.

“They bring everybody else up,” Gingery said. “Great leaders, good football players and they’re good students. And the best part is they’re good people.”

Worthley and Bauman are just two of 10 returning starters, and all of them bring a resilient attitude to the Spartans.

“We had some underclassmen play quite a bit of football last year,” Gingery said. “We had a tough schedule. They got a lot of game experience, and so that part has helped a bunch, and it’s been easier to install things.”

After finishing last season 5-5 and losing in the playoffs to Elkhorn South, Bauman said this team is ready to build off of last year and make it even further in the postseason.

“We have a goal of just making the playoffs and making a run and kind of proving people wrong,” he said.

Worthley said he already likes what he sees from the Spartan offense.

“The run game’s very good; we got a lot of versatility on each side,” he said. “Our receivers, we have speed. We have a lot of speed. And I think we got a big physical offensive line. … For us, the biggest thing is going to be confidence, and, you know, it’s looking good for us right now.”