Lincoln thought its football season was over, until an overturned suspension presented another chance

The entrance to Lincoln High School’s football field was locked last Saturday morning for the Railsplitters’ regular-season finale against defending Philadelphia Public League champion Imhotep Charter.

Spectators had to be preapproved for entrance into the gates, then checked by a Philadelphia police officer on a list. There were three camera crews there, too, taking sporadic shots of the field and video of the 50 or so parents scattered in the concrete stands.

Lincoln hasn’t played a game since Oct. 4, after the team received a three-game suspension — which would have ended its season — following a brawl that broke out after its game against Northeast High School. However, last week, the School District of Philadelphia overturned Lincoln’s suspension after video evidence revealed players, parents, and coaches from both schools were involved in an altercation as Lincoln’s team attempted to leave the Northeast Supersite.

» READ MORE: Chester’s Shemaj Henry has played football for only three years. Now he’s bound for Syracuse.

The Railsplitters forfeited two games, including their 39-8 victory over Northeast, before the suspension was amended. But none of that mattered against Imhotep. Lincoln just wanted another chance to play.

In a 26-25 thriller, the Railsplitters snapped the powerhouse Panthers’ 35-game league winning streak and became the first Public League team to beat Imhotep in six years.

If the Railsplitters (5-4) had lost, their season was over. Lincoln persevered, despite having 12 players suspended due to the altercation, and will advance to the Public League quarterfinal round of the playoffs. They will play Central at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Germantown Supersite.

As the game was winding down on Oct. 4, Lincoln coach Hakeem Cooper and Northeast coach Nick Lincoln agreed to skip the traditional postgame handshake down the middle of the field, Cooper said, due to the in-game chatter that was stirring between the teams.

Instead, Northeast went back to its locker rooms, located up a ramp and behind the stadium field house. Cooper gathered his team in the far end zone to address the group for 15 minutes after the game. Cooper said he sent assistant coach Joe DiGrazio to get the Lincoln team buses over to the visitor’s side of the field.

DiGrazio then went up the steps on the Northeast home side, where a verbal altercation ensued, Cooper said.

DiGrazio, who is shown on a video from the incident, had his back to the steps and extended his arms trying to hold back Lincoln’s players from going up the steps. The video also showed shoving and jostling before the altercation was settled.

Northeast interim principal Peggy DeNaples, Northeast athletic director Phil Gormley, and Vikings coach Nick Lincoln could not comment about the matter.

The school district wrote in a statement: “After an additional review of video footage, statements from coaches, parents and OSS (Office of School Safety) officers on-site and reports from PPD (Philadelphia Police Department), the PPL (Philadelphia Public League)’s investigation concluded that student-athletes and coaches from the Abraham Lincoln high school football team engaged in unsportsmanlike conduct after the conclusion of the game … . Individuals who were not directly involved in the altercation from Lincoln were eligible to return to play for their final regular season game on Oct. 18.”

On Oct. 8, Lincoln principal Jack Nelson was informed by the district that the Railsplitters’ season would be canceled. Cooper gathered his team in a study hall to tell them the news, which was greeted with a swell of emotion.

» READ MORE: Kennett’s Shay Barker is following in his older brother’s footsteps, one kick at a time

It also happened to be on Cooper’s 34th birthday.

“Yep, it was not a good birthday present, because it was highly emotional,” said Cooper, who is in his fifth season as the Railsplitters’ head coach and guided Lincoln to a 2023 PPL Class 6A championship, its first league title since 1979. “It’s probably one of the hardest things I ever had to do as a coach. I got emotional, seeing all my boys breaking down after we lost a championship that we should have won [last November to Imhotep on a blocked punt in the Public League championship].

“It’s been a roller coaster these last two weeks. I was holding out hope that we would be able to salvage the season. I just wanted the kids to have one more chance. We appealed the suspension when more video came out, and the school district gave us our season back.”

A week later, in the same room that Lincoln thought its season was over, Cooper told his 47 players to grab their helmets and shoulder pads and get ready for practice. They had a 90- minute session last Wednesday and a two-hour practice on Thursday, before finishing the week with a Friday walk-through.

It was not an ideal way to prepare for a team like Imhotep, which beat Lincoln 35-6 last year during the regular season. The Panthers also squeezed by the Railsplitters, 28-26, for the Public League Class 6A title on a blocked punt with less than a minute left in regulation and a touchdown by Jabree Wallace-Coleman (who’s now at Penn State) on the final play of the game.

Last Saturday, Lincoln’s 6-foot-1, 193-pound senior quarterback KJ Moore was brilliant. He extended plays. He found sophomore Nazir Holley in the corner of the end zone for a 20-19 lead with 1:48 to play.

It looked like the Railsplitters would seal the win when defensive end Koi Muse took an interception 35 yards and added a 26-19 lead. But Imhotep kept coming.

On the ensuing kickoff, Imhotep scored a touchdown on a fumbled return and had Cooper feeling cursed by the football gods that another odd special team’s breakdown would end Lincoln’s season. But the Railsplitters held, as Imhotep’s two-point conversion was stopped.

Cooper’s lower lip quivered after the game. The whole experience seems to have galvanized the Railsplitters. The suspension made a tight team a tighter team.

» READ MORE: Running back Khyan Billups overcame adversity to become St. Joe’s Prep’s driving force on offense

“I never gave up hope that we would play again, and I never felt so happy going to practice last Wednesday,” Moore said. “I was angry. We had to play behind a locked gate. Me, Jamir Duncan, and Nymir Marable, the team captains, called a players-only meeting the day after we were told our season was over. We were determined to get our season back. … On the outside, we had a lot of ignorance coming at us.

“We’re going to be tough to beat. We are getting our guys back, and Alvin Yates is eligible to play. I saw the cameras there. I also saw that they left. They didn’t stick around. They covered their story. They missed the story: us beating a team no one thought we could beat. This adversity has made us closer. … I learned how this coaching staff cares about us. They are always there for us. It’s why we push, because our coaches push.”

Marable, a senior receiver who is getting attention from West Chester, Delaware State, Gettysburg, and West Virginia State, added: “We had to prove everyone wrong. We were supposed to lose 50-0. I think we all got a gift in this — we had something taken away and then given back. We learned not to take anything for granted. Everyone was ready to play. No one was going to stop us.”

When Cooper showed up at Lincoln at 8 a.m. Saturday, he was greeted by 20 of his players waiting in front of the locker room door.

Yates, a 6-5, 260-pound defensive lineman and cousin of former St. Joe’s Prep star Samaj Jones and Imhotep’s Zahir Mathis, had to wait 21 days before his eligibility kicked in after transferring into Lincoln from Imhotep.

“I can’t wait to play after being on the sideline,” said Yates, who is getting attention from Syracuse, Temple, Monmouth, and Penn State. “We have some dogs on this team. The mindset of this team is to win everything, especially with everything we have been through.”

» READ MORE: How St. Joe’s Prep vs. La Salle became Philadelphia’s ultimate football rivalry

If Lincoln and Northeast win this weekend, the two teams will advance to the Public League semifinals, which will be played at the South Philadelphia Supersite on Nov. 1 at 11 a.m. According to sources from Lincoln and Northeast, there will likely be no fans permitted to attend.

“I won’t forget my son coming home [on Oct. 8] crying like he lost an aunt and I knew something was not right,” said Kareem Moore Sr., KJ Moore’s father. “I was there when the fight broke out. The animosity was high between the two teams. These were adults acting poorly. It’s too bad this was taken out on these kids. It will feel real good when Lincoln wins the Public League title. These kids are filled with a lot of energy. They can do it.”