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By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
Erasmus Hall can no longer claim to be the young and inexperienced underdog.
The Dutchmen football team put itself atop the Public School Athletic League, and possibly the city, with an 18–16 victory over visiting Abraham Lincoln at Sid Luckman Field last Saturday. The win ends the defending-champion Railsplitters’ 17-game winning streak, and leaves Erasmus as one of the league’s two unbeaten teams after five weeks.
“It will open up a lot of people’s eyes to understand we’re not anyone to sleep on in the city.” Rutgers-bound linebacker Deonte Roberts said. “The targets are on our backs now.”
Senior Kefa Cort put his team on his back in this game. He scored two touchdowns, including a 95-yard kickoff return to open the second half, and broke up Lincoln’s last-gasp pass play on fourth down in the closing minutes. Cort also caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Grant to give Erasmus the lead for good at 6–3 with 4:40 remaining in the second quarter.
“I knew I had to make a play at some time in the game for my team,” Cort said of the kickoff return. “As soon as I got the ball I took off to the right, beat that guy and ran straight to the end zone.”
Lincoln (4–1) was stopped on fourth-and-goal from the two on its opening drive, settling for a 24-yard field goal from Axel Pembele. It finally reached the end zone when Paul Litvak found Justice Seales and the senior eluded the grasp of Roberts for a 22-yard score.
Erasmus (5–0) answered three plays later as Grant connected with Keon Gravenhise for a 47-yard touchdown to keep Erasmus up 18–10 with 8:04 remaining in the third.
The Dutchmen’s defense bent, but didn’t break the rest of the way. Lincoln had a chance to tie the score after Litvak and Seales connected for a 32-yard score to make it 18–16 with 3:44 left in the third. Roget O’Neill’s two-point conversion run was stuffed. The Railsplitters again looked primed to take the lead when Jordan Hannah blocked a punt and Lincoln recovered at the Erasmus eight-yard line. Luis Rodriguez eventually had the ball stripped from him by Roberts. Jacob Crocker recovered it, but had his touchdown return negated by penalty.
“We go by our motto, ‘If they don’t score, they don’t win,’ ” Roberts said.
Erasmus had given up just 14 points in its first four games and grounded a strong Railsplitter attack to a halt. Lincoln, which narrowly escaped against Grand Street in Week 4, didn’t help itself by turning the ball over twice, and losing the field-position battle.
“You have to be mistake-free in our league,” said Lincoln coach Shawn O’Connor. “You have to protect the football and you have to play all facets.”
Dutchmen coach Danny Landberg didn’t feel his team played its best game either, even in a win. He called it a “C” performance because of their own turnovers and points left on the field. It just shows how much Erasmus can still improve. What has gotten he team this far is its depth and guys across the field stepping up despite the lack of a true star.
“This is the most I have ever had a ‘team’ team in my career,” Landberg said.