By Alex Lloyd Gross
Good sportsmanship is taught at all levels of education. That may be a good idea to follow, but when two teams get on the field, both want to win. That was never more evident than at Lincoln High School today, November 23, 2017 for the annual Thanksgiving rivalry between the Lincoln Railsplitters and the Father Judge Crusaders. Both teams have been meeting at Lincoln for the annual football game for decades.
Unfortunately, someone has to lose and this year it was Lincoln. In fact, Lincoln has lost more games in this annual contest than they have won. The Crusaders came out strong, scoring a touchdown within the first few minutes of the start of the game. In fact, they kept advancing towards the goal line almost every time they got the ball. By halftime, they were leading 21 to 0.
The crowd was into it, a bit thinner than in years past, however, people were still arriving by the end of the third quarter. On the perimeter, people stood and watched the game through the fence, some were drinking beer and having a tailgate. Fans of Lincoln could sit in bleachers. Fans of Father Judge, could sit on a grassy hill. It’s always been that way. No matter how loud the fans could cheer for Lincoln, it was not enough to propel the team for a win. Lincoln managed to score 14 points but it was not enough at Judge came out ahead with 41.