Jordan Hannah had it in him all along — and maybe a little bit more than anyone expected.
The senior, who hadn’t started at quarterback since his youth football days, was a speedy, efficient and versatile force in his first varsity game under center for Abraham Lincoln last Friday night.
He helped the two-time defending Public School Athletic League city champions beat Erasmus Hall 24–14 with his legs, with his arms and his grasp of the Railsplitters offense.
The 5-foot-6, 160-pound Hannah was given the job because of his experience and athleticism, but Lincoln head coach Shawn O’Connor quickly learned he might be a better athlete than even he knew.
Hannah worked hard in the offseason and with assistant coach Joe DeSiena to dust off his quarterback skills, and more importantly, to fine tune his ability to throw the ball.
“We thought he would be a runner for us, but I thought he did a nice job of reading and passing the ball,” O’Connor said.
Hannah first showed it off in scrimmages and put it on full display against Erasmus on Sept. 4. He zipped the ball to his receivers and completed 12 of 18 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown. Hannah did not turn the ball over.
“I played quarterback when I was younger, but Coach D helped me bring it back,” he said.
It was a position he said he never though he’d get to play again, fully expecting to be a wide receiver for the duration of his days in Coney Island. But after 32 seniors graduated, including starting quarterback Paul Litvak, there was Hannah, embracing and excelling in the role that fell to him.
He did exactly what a beautifully scripted game plan asked of him. Hannah established the passing game early with screens and well-designed middle-of-the-field passes to keep the Erasmus defense honest. That made it possible for play fakes to then open up the running game for him and Corey Wright.
Hannah showed speed to the outside and carried a few defenders with him for extra yards on a few inside runs. He ran for 92 yards on 18 carries.
“He played with a lot of poise,” senior linebacker Moses Dupre said. “He played great.”
It was just one game in a season that Lincoln hopes has 13 of them, but it put the rest of the city on notice. Hannah has the skills and the confidence to be a big-time player this season and keep Lincoln in the hunt to become the first program since Susan Wagner in 1990 to win three-straight crowns.
“He is our leader,” O’Connor said. “We really want the ball in his hands.”
Those hands are proving to be a very capable pair.
