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Erasmus Hall upsets Lincoln, ends 17-game winning streak

October 6, 2014 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Kefa Cort scored two touchdowns as Erasmus Hall upset Lincoln High School 18-16 and ended its 17-game winning streak on Sunday.
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For the past two seasons, the Lincoln Railsplitters were known as the best team in the Public School Athletic League.  However, their 17-game winning streak snapped on Sunday after losing to Erasmus Hall, a team that was expected to have a down year after losing one of New York City’s best players in Curtis Samuel.

“It’s a big difference [not having Curtis Samuel] because it forces us to play as a team,” wide receiver Kefa Cort said.

Without a bonafide star like Samuel, Erasmus Hall’s head coach Danny Landberg said he feels the team is actually better because it forces secondary players to rise to the occasion.

“This is the most I’ve ever had a team, team, in my career,” Landberg said.

And that team pulled together and managed to do what nobody in New York City has done since 2012, as Erasmus Hall beat Lincoln High School 18-16 at Sid Luckman Field on Sunday afternoon.

The biggest key to this win has been Cort, who, despite having talent, has been inconsistent in his high school career. He scored two touchdowns against Lincoln, including one in the second quarter to put Erasmus Hall up 6-3 and another on a kickoff return to start the second half that put the Dutchmen up 12-3.

“Kefa has always been one of the top flight athletes on our team,” Landberg said. “He was an all-city football player as a sophomore. He had a real bad junior year, and I think that he’s coming out of his shell again — rising to the top like cream is supposed to.”

After Cort gave Erasmus Hall a nice lead going into the second half, Lincoln fought back as quarterback Paul Litvak found Justice Seales open for a 22-yard touchdown pass that made it 12-10. E-Hall’s Aaron Grant then hit Keon Gravenhise with a 47-yard pass to go up 18-10, which was enough to overcome a second touchdown pass from Litvak to Seales — this time a 32-yarder — that made it 18-16.

The teams’ defenses took over the game after that. Erasmus Hall didn’t help itself when they had three false start penalties on one drive that ended with a blocked punt by Jordan Hannah. Lincoln failed to capitalize, though, when Luis Rodriguez fumbled. Erasmus’ Jacob Croker caught a bad break after a potential touchdown resulted from the fumble and was called back due to a block in the back penalty.

“I give my team a C grade for today,” Landberg said. “We won, but this wasn’t our best game. We fumbled the ball at a crucial time — we had some bad snaps and some bad blocks at crucial times. I have to tip my hat to our defense because they did a very good job [Sunday].”

If Erasmus Hall got a C, then Lincoln deserved a bad grade as well. Head coach Shawn O’Connor singled out his special teams, which allowed Cort’s kickoff return touchdown, as a trouble spot. The offense, which typically carries Lincoln, also struggled outside of the two big plays from Litvak to Seales

“We had our chances; we had guys open; receivers dropped a lot of footballs today,” O’Connor said. “We had our opportunities, and we didn’t make the best of them today.

You gotta be mistake-free in our league. It’s high school football. You have to protect the football and play all facets — defense and special teams.”

After this win, Erasmus Hall can no can no longer be referred to as an underdog team.

“This will open a lot of people’s eyes,” Rutgers commit Deonte Roberts said. “Nobody can sleep on us anymore. …There are a lot of good teams so we just have to keep working each and every day.”

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