Lincoln's Jamiek Davis fights for extra yardage during Tuesday's PSAL Championship Division title game at Yankee Stadium, which the Railsplitters win, 20-12.  Kareem Folkes was not in a good mood. His ankle was in pain and he was cramping up.  Popping pain-killers on the sideline during the PSAL Championship Division title game against Erasmus Hall on Tuesday, Folkes was hobbling around the field at Yankee Stadium, a shadow of the player he was during the regular season, when he led the city in touchdowns and total points scored.  Making matters worse, Folkes also had to play cornerback. But when it mattered most, Folkes delivered for Lincoln, clinching the Railsplitters’ 20-12 win over Erasmus Hall with two clutch defensive plays in the waning seconds.  Folkes helped give the Railsplitters (13-0) their first city championship since 1993 and allowed them to rebound quite nicely from losing last year’s city title game to Fort Hamilton.  “I couldn’t take deep cuts. My ankle was hurting,” said Folkes, who rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. “Guys were falling on it in the pile and twisting it. But I knew my team needed me and I had to come through for them. I couldn’t let it bother me. I had to make those plays.”  With the Dutchmen inside the Lincoln 20 with 10 seconds left, Folkes, a 5-9 senior, broke up a pass intended for Erasmus Hall’s 6-5 receiver Luder Jean Louis in the back of the end zone. Folkes tweaked the ankle on that third-down play but not enough to keep him from sealing the win.  On fourth-and-10 from the Lincoln 18, Wayne Morgan targeted Jean Louis again, and a hobbling Folkes batted the ball down as time ran out.  “He’s a fighter,” said Denzel Duchenne, who filled in for Folkes at times and gave Lincoln a 14-6 lead with a 3-yard rushing touchdown early in the second quarter.  Morgan struggled for Erasmus, completing just five of 20 passes for 52 yards while rushing for 45 yards and two touchdowns, the second coming with 8:55 left in the second quarter that cut Lincoln’s lead to 14-12.  Erasmus Hall was decimated by injuries. Senior running back Shaquell Jackson hurt his knee in a semifinal win over Tottenville and didn’t play on Tuesday. In his place, sophomore Kahlil Lewin rushed for 135 yards on 16 carries, although he gained just five yards in the second half.  Quarterback Jessel Jones’ 1-yard rushing touchdown with 10:39 left gave Lincoln the 20-12 lead.  “We didn’t do anything in the second half,” said Erasmus Hall coach Danny Landberg, whose team couldn’t take advantage of two Lincoln turnovers inside its own 30. “We didn’t block, we didn’t read, we didn’t protect.”  Lincoln was criticized earlier in the season for wracking up several easy wins over so-called “cupcake” opponents, and Railsplitters coach Shawn O’Connor revealed after the game that he had intended to symbolically eat a red velvet cupcake he had saved from after the Clinton game.  He ditched the idea after the hard-fought victory over the Dutchmen.  “It was good to get the monkey off our back,” O’Connor said. “This one feels good.”
Lincoln is familiar with playing in unkind weather. It’s also familiar with Yankee Stadium. The top-seeded Railsplitters used both experiences to their advantage, beating Erasmus Hall, 20-12, on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium in the PSAL Championship Division city title game that was played in a steady rain. It is Lincoln’s first championship since 1993.