Luis Rodriguez has etched his name in Brooklyn sports lore, and helped his Abraham Lincoln team make history.
The Railsplitters running back tied a league record by scoring all nine Lincoln touchdowns over three postseason games.
His most important two scores of the year came in No. 2 Lincoln’s 13–6 victory over top-seeded Erasmus Hall in the Public School Athletic League City Conference football title game on Dec. 10 at Yankee Stadium.
It is Lincoln’s second-straight crown and third in the last four years. This group is the first Lincoln team to win consecutive crowns, and first overall since Fort Hamilton did it in 2005 and 2006.
Rodriguez, who doesn’t have a college scholarship offer yet, carried the ball 25 times for 171 yards. He and his teammates celebrated by sliding into the snow-covered end zone at Yankee Stadium.
“It hasn’t sunken in yet,” Rodriguez said. “I feel great right now knowing we made Lincoln history.”
Rodriguez’s nine postseason touchdowns tie former Lincoln standout and fellow Coney Islander Frankie Sinclair (1993) for the Public School Athletic League record. Railsplitters coach Shawn O’Connor told Rodriguez, who began the year at receiver, that he was a legend now — and the best Coney Island football player to come through the program.
“I figured they’d still key on him, but they still have to stop him,” the coach said. “He came up big again for us.”
Erasmus got on the board first, however, thanks to a 55-yard touchdown run from Shavar Brathwaite, to take a 6–0 lead early in the second quarter. Two plays later, Rodriguez broke a 55-yard scoring run and an Axel Pembele extra point made it 7–6 Railsplitters.
His six-yard touchdown run on third down made it 13–6 with 1:49 to go before the half. Senior Prince Klutsy was a key on both sides of the ball. He shared the running load with Rodriguez and made key stops as a linebacker.
Both teams relied heavily on the run in the cold and snowy conditions. The Dutchmen had trouble getting its usually explosive offense going. Erasmus could not score from the Lincoln 13-yard line in the third quarter and had three fourth-quarter drives end on fourth down.
“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,” Erasmus linebacker Deonte Roberts said.
The Dutchmen’s final drive concluded with Lincoln senior Dionte Fleming stopping Brathwaite on a fourth and three from the Erasmus 31 with less than 1:00 to play.
“A couple of second’s left, fourth down, I see Shavar Braithwaite in the hole,” said Fleming. “I thought, ‘I got to get it done.’ ”
The last two Railsplitters’ crowns were part of undefeated seasons. They lost twice this year, but picked themselves up. Lincoln’s defense allowed just 12 points in the playoffs, and quelled two of the city’s best offenses in the process.
“We went against a Grand Street team that figured they’d just throw us out of the stadium, and they weren’t able to do it,” Fleming said. “We went against an E-Hall team that figured they could run us out of the stadium, and they couldn’t run.”
The title ends a season that began with O’Connor asking this fresh-faced group to introduce itself to the New York City football world. Rodriguez can now call himself a legend — and he and his teammates will forever be champions.
“I think they introduced themselves,” O’Connor said, “and put an exclamation point on it.”
