By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

ELLIS -- The Ellis prep football team returned nearly all its starters from a school record 10-2 season in 2008. After a season-opening victory against Atwood, the Railroaders, then-ranked No. 5 in Class 2-1A, faced Oakley. The Plainsmen shut out Ellis 14-0, the first time since a 27-0 defeat to Stockton in Week 2 of 2005 that an opponent other than Smith Center blanked the Railers.

"We went into the season with a lot of high expectations and sometimes with success from a previous season -- I thought we got a little complacent maybe thinking that maybe we were going to do the same thing that we did last year," head coach Butch Hayes said before Wednesday's practice. "...We learned a lot from that game and believe it or not, gave us some momentum going into the rest of the season."

In the loss, Oakley's interior line held the Railers to 24 rushing yards and senior running back Dylan Pfeifer suffered a knee injury. Since then, though, the Ellis running game has rushed for at least 276 yards in every contest, including games against powerhouses Smith Center and Norton. The Railers are 7-1 since the Oakley loss, the only defeat a 16-10 decision against the Redmen in a contest Ellis outgained Smith Center in total yards.

Ellis, helped by a new jumbo package, several returning starters on the offensive line, the return of Pfeifer and a breakout offensive season for senior Gideon Fuchs, has rushed for 2,792 yards, 34 TDs and averaged 7.27 yards per carry, numbers all better than 2008's marks.

The Railers have scored 312 points and are 15 points away from breaking the single season school record for scoring offense set in 2006.

"I think we are better in the running game," Hayes said. "We still need to improve in our passing game, but our running game is doing well this year. I think it's better than last year's team to be quite honest. But we still have a lot of work to do. We want to keep improving as the playoffs go, but I am very pleased with how this offense is putting points on the board and really rolling up the yardage in the running game."

On Saturday, Ellis (8-2) will travel to Brookville-Ell-Saline (8-2) for a second round state playoff matchup. Last season, the Railers defeated Ell-Saline 36-8 in Ellis. This season, a win would put Ellis into the third round for the third time in four years. Ellis has never gone past the third round in school history, but the Railers are considered one of 2-1A's best.

"I think that we feel like we have lost to the other two best teams in 2A," sophomore tight end Jared Herl, the team's leading receiver with 17 catches, said.

"Oakley and Smith Center are both really, really good football teams, but I think so are we and I think that the team out of the west has just as good of a shot, if not better, than the team out of the east to win it."

While Ell-Saline features junior quarterback Tate Omli- "one of the best quarterbacks I think in 2A," Hayes said - the Railers counter with the running back tandem of Fuchs and Pfeifer and junior quarterback Jacob Kinderknecht. Fuchs, who picked up 490 yards last season, has rushed for 1,122 yards and 10.3 yards per carry, fifth among Kansas 11-man teams, according to MaxPreps.

"Offensive line is doing a great job," Fuchs said. "They create some holes and they are always giving a lot of effort and I try to give all my effort and have the mindset not to go down on any play."

Pfeifer, who picked up 1,505 yards in 2008, has 755 this fall. Versus Oakley, Pfeifer hurt his left knee while punting. At first, coaches feared he would miss significant time, but it was just a sprain. Pfeifer was held out of three games on defense, but was able to run the ball.

"Our athletic trainer said I wouldn't miss any time, so that made me feel a lot better," Pfeifer said.

In Week 6 against Norton, Pfeifer sprained his other knee and missed the Plainville game. Since then, though, he has delivered three straight contests with 90-plus yards. Pfeifer earned the team's player of the week honors for Week 8.

"Still some pain in it," Pfeifer said.

"For a couple weeks, I think I lost a lot of speed, but I think now it's all back 100 percent."

"He just as tough as ever running the ball," Hayes said. "He may not have his speed back, but he is running over people, making some nice cuts and each game he gets better."

Fuchs, normally the team's fullback, has played some tailback instead of Pfeifer. During the summer, Fuchs attended a strength and speed program in Hays. The Railer coaching staff immediately noticed a difference in Fuchs' speed and Hayes recalled the coaching staff saying, "we need to get this kid the ball."

Fuchs rushed for 110 yards against Atwood, but just 6 against Oakley. Since then, he has five 100-yard contests and has scored a touchdown in every game.

"When he gets in the open field, he is able to run away from people," Hayes said. "That has a lot to do with he has improved in the offseason and our offensive line is doing a nice job blocking for him. It's what we expected from him, too. We knew that he was going to be a kid that was going to improve himself to where to could help us in that regard."

Against Smith Center, Ellis lost by six to the Redmen, on a nation-best 76 game winning streak. Fuchs picked up 141 yards including an 80-yard run behind a line that includes Herl, juniors Logan Mattheyer, Scott Fuller and Matt Gehring, seniors Jacob Begler and Matt Erbert. Only Gehring didn't start in 2008.

"It shows that if we play our game, how big of a threat we can be," Fuchs said.

"It's not something to hang our heads about," Pfeifer said. "We have got to use that to motivate us and treat every game just like it's a Smith Center game."

The next week, Ellis put in a jumbo package with two tight ends, a formation Herl said the Railers ran "one play" out of in 2008. Now, the players estimate they use jumbo 75 percent of the time.

"I like playing a little smashmouth football," Pfeifer said.

Against Norton, the team rushed for 321 yards and defeated the Bluejays by eight. Since then, they've rolled up four straight big rushing games -- and continued the surge that started after Week 2.