Top-seeded Erasmus Hall’s magical season fell one win short when no. 2 Abraham Lincoln edged the Dutchman 13–6 in the Public School Athletic League City Conference football title game at Yankees Stadium on Dec. 11.
Erasmus (11–2) won the regular season title and breezed by its first two opponents in the playoffs by a combined score of 65–36. The Dutchmen even took a 6–0 lead against Lincoln early in the second quarter thanks to a 55-yard touchdown run by Shavar Brathwaite, but the weather and the Railsplitters defense made life difficult after that.
The conditions at Yankee Stadium weren’t conducive to Erasmus’s style of play on the offensive side of the ball. It was a wind-swept and snowy night on a grass field, and Erasmus’s offense is built on playing fast and moving the ball as much through the air as on the ground.
“We just had to come out to play,” said Rutgers-bound linebacker Deonte Roberts. “Stick to the game assignments. The weather did slow us down a bit, but we had to come out and do what we had to do, but unfortunately we couldn’t finish the job.”
The wet ball didn’t allow for junior quarterback Aaron Grant to test the Lincoln secondary with his passing attack early on in the game. It led to some poor snaps that sent the Dutchmen backwards. Erasmus head coach Danny Landberg didn’t use the weather as an excuse, but acknowledged it was factor.
“The weather gave us a lot of issues,” Landberg said. “[Lincoln] is a better team for it, and it ended up working in their favor.”
Still, there were chances to steal the game late, but three fourth-quarter drives were ended on fourth down. The realization of falling just short of a city title sunk in for the players as Lincoln celebrated on the field.
Landberg sent his emotional seniors back to the locker room and made his underclassmen stay and watch Lincoln receive the trophy and the banner. A fired up Landberg told them to let the disappointment set in and feed off it moving forward, while reminding his younger players that they already exceeded expectations this year.
“This is what we are going to do next year,” Landberg told his team, “This was supposed to be a down year, and we got here a year earlier. I want to know who is going to get us back next year. Let it hurt. It teaches you power, hunger, manhood, responsibly and heart. We will be back here next year.”
