The Lincoln Northeast football team lives by the motto “Accountability, consistency, and trust,” and it’s paid off this season.
Rockets head coach Javonta Boyd created the motto ahead of the season, and the team has rallied around it.
“Without trust, you can’t have consistency; without consistency you cannot be accountable, so we talk about that,” Boyd told NebPreps. “That’s just our team and program motto, but every day we tell ourselves it’s good, but it ain’t good enough, and we live by that from play to play.”
The team has played well this year, but that hasn’t always been the case. Boyd took over as the Rockets’ head coach in 2022 and tallied a 10-26 record across his first four seasons. The Rockets did not win a single game in Boyd’s first two years at the helm. They turned it around in year three, however, going 4-5. Last season, they went 6-3 and just missed out on the playoffs.
Boyd said schedule changes and his ability to be himself improved the culture.
“Over the years, yes, the expectation has changed from, ‘Hey, we just need, tonight, do this, we’re building,’ to, ‘Hey now we’re expected to win, and you are expected to be a student-athlete,’” Boyd said. “You are expected to be in school and have good grades, and just do all the right things on and off the field. So I think for them, they only know one side of it, because they didn’t experience the 0-for. They only experienced the winning, and it just keeps building for them.”
Senior quarterback Zayne Scully is a part of that change. He said that the culture had a negative energy his sophomore year, but Boyd helped fix that.
“He’s kind of just been a father figure for all of us,” Scully said. “He just kind of kept us focused not on the extracurriculars either. He kind of just helped us with not only football, but our own way of life.”
That’s paid off in 2026. After just missing the playoffs in 2025, Lincoln Northeast is 4-1 this season. It is also tied for No. 12 in wild card points, with a shot at the playoffs this season.
Seniors lead the way for the Rockets, including Scully and running back Kaleb Poulsen.
“We’ve been playing in the same system for three years, and they’re sticking together,” Boyd said. “That helps a lot when it comes to consistency, and that just plays a big role on it.”
Lincoln Northeast quarterback Zayne Scully drops back to throw the ball at the NebPreps 7v7 State Championship. Photo by Braden Cochran.
Scully has been consistent this season as well. The signal caller was the backup quarterback last year, while also contributing on special teams, defense and as a receiver. He took over as starting quarterback this season and is off to a great start.
Scully has completed 56.7% of his passes for 748 yards and 10 touchdowns with only three interceptions while also leading the team with 388 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 59 carries, averaging 6.6 yards per carry.
One reason for Scully’s growth may be the camaraderie that the players and coaches have built. They do a number of team activities off the field. This includes an NFL gameday get-together, NCAA Tournament get-together, a team barbecue in the summer, a pool party and more.
Scully said the team bonding events mean a lot.
“It helps that we’re not just a team in the locker room,” Scully said. “We’re a family outside of football, and we’re just kind of building those brotherhoods and friendships for the rest of our life.”
Boyd echoed the sentiment, while recognizing the importance of including the people closest to the players as well.
“We try to implement everything with the families, then we also try to say, well this is just for our team, and that they can be together,” Boyd said.
That camaraderie will have a chance to show itself again when Lincoln Northeast welcomes Fremont on Friday. The Tigers are 1-4, but Boyd believes their record doesn’t reflect their play.
“On film, they’re big, they’re physical, so we’re going to have to come out and play well, play fast and play with confidence,” Boyd said. “They’re coming into Lincoln, and they’re going to try and steal one from us, so we are definitely going to come out and be prepared for them.”
As for Boyd’s hopes for the rest of the year, he wants to see the Rockets continue competing.
“Winning hasn’t always been a thing at Northeast, so you still have to teach them how to win, how to carry themselves,” Boyd said. “We’ve been having a lot of Thursday games, so you still have to show up to school on Friday, you still have to be a student athlete. Even though you just got home at 1 or midnight on a Thursday from a game, you still have to go to school the next day.”
Boyd and his coaching staff will continue teaching the team, with hopes of making it to the playoffs or improving each game.
“If there’s a bump in the road for some reason, they don’t blame each other anymore,” Boyd said. “They’ve grown to be good teammates, to hold each other accountable. It’s football, so there’s going to be ups and downs, so we just tell them ride the wave, be consistent, trust in each other, trust in the process, and we will be OK.”
