We will learn plenty a week from now in Coney Island.
It’s only the first game of 10, but the season opener on Sept. 4 holds plenty of meaning for two-time defending champion Abraham Lincoln and visiting Erasmus Hall — a rematch of last year’s Public School Athletic League football title game, played in the snow at Yankee Stadium.
Anytime these two city powers meet there in drama, considering no other program has won a city title in the last four years.
But there is extra curiosity this time. An inexperienced Lincoln squad is looking to prove it still belongs in the championship conversation, while Erasmus, with its painful experience from last year, would love to show its rivals that this is its year.
A victory could mean much more for Lincoln, however. It’s an early chance to put the rest of the city on notice that despite losing 21 starters it has the capability of making a run at a three-peat. Expectations are bit down on the new Railsplitters squad everywhere outside Coney Island, and beating a veteran and hungry Dutchmen team would send an early message that it shouldn’t be counted out.
The contest is also important because Lincoln’s next two games are on the road, and against programs that are traditionally in the upper tier of the league.
Trying to win after long trips to Bronx power DeWitt Clinton and to Staten Island’s Tottenville will not be easy. The last place the Railsplitters want to be is starting in an early hole with an inexperienced team.
But a few losses along the way don’t scare Lincoln coach Shawn O’Connor, as long as his team continues to improve. The Railsplitters lost two last season, including to Erasmus in Week 5. The main concern is to the get to the postseason playing your best — but boy, wouldn’t it be nice for the players’ confidence and the power rankings to beat your rivals on the night you hang another championship banner?
It is a reward Erasmus believes it should have earned last year. The image of the Lincoln players hoisting the trophy is etched in the Dutchmen’s heads and has been a primary motivation for the squad since the moment it walked off the field in the Bronx. What better way to put that demon to rest early than by ruining Lincoln’s opener and celebration?
Erasmus can pick up right where it left off last year when it nearly went undefeated during the regular season, losing just its final to Tottenville. The early schedule is favorable to the Dutchmen this year.
Erasmus does have to travel to Kennedy in Week 2, but gets a good Curtis team and a rebuilding Flushing squad at home in the first five weeks. Beating Lincoln could spark a very fast start.
In the grand scheme of things, Week 1 could yet be a blip on the radar, but there is a better chance it will be more than that. The outcome could set both teams on their course for the year — one that could see another meeting at Yankee Stadium.
