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By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
To most, the number 13 means bad luck. But for the football program at Abraham Lincoln High School, it’s a number you only get to with lots of practice, determination, and no small amount of good luck on the side. It’s the number of games a team will play if its reaches the championship.
Head coach Shawn O’Connor decided to put that number front and center this season after the Railsplitters lost in the semifinals last season — just a year after winning the Public School Athletic League city title at Yankee Stadium.
“Thirteen is a big number for us,” O’Connor said.
That’s why all the Lincoln players, including the junior varsity, are wearing the number 13 on the backs of their practice jerseys as a reminder of where the team wants to be by season’s end. Senior defensive tackle Thomas Holley sees the number as a symbol of the standard they try to live up to everyday.
“We want to be at Yankee Stadium under the lights with everybody cheering because we won the game,” Holley said.
They see no reason why that can’t happen with a plethora of seasoned talent returning from a junior-heavy team that saw two of its three losses come by just one point. It’s something that sticks with the players. They feel the experience will help them keep that from happening again.
“We have a lot of older guys now who know how it feels, and know what it takes to not lose that close game and actually win the close game,” said senior quarterback Javon Moore who added 15 pounds in the offseason.
He will get to orchestrate a potentially potent offense with plenty of returning pieces. It will be without star wide receiver Jamiek Davis, however, who moved to North Carolina with his family. Moore will have senior running back Antoine Holloman, classmate Leroy Hancel and junior Aaron Henderson in the backfield. Holloman led the city in rushing last season, with 1,281 yards and nine touchdowns. Carlos Stewart and Malik Andrews return at wide receivers.
“We have talent at every position,” Holloman said.
The Railsplitters will be equally as talented on a defense led by Holley, ranked the No. 3 defensive tackle in the country by Rivals.com. Douglas Powell joins him on the other side. Khendell Puryear, considered one of the city’s top corners, and safety Jashi Meade are also back.
“Our defense is so good, us practicing against them is going to make other opponents look small and make us that much better,” Moore said.
The Lincoln squad will have to beat teams like Tottenville and defending champion Erasmus Hall if it wants to reach the number 13 the players stare at every day of practice.
“You can’t look around without seeing the number 13,” Moore said. “Everyone knows what the number is. That’s our way of life, getting to the thirteenth game.”