Kahlil Lewin’s contributions for Erasmus Hall cannot be overstated. The sophomore running back has been a serious spark since returning midseason from a broken foot.
Saturday, though, he was downright dominant. Lewin had 109 yards on 10 carries in the second half and overtime of a 20-17 overtime win over Tottenville in the PSAL City Championship division football semifinals. He had the game-winning 15-yard touchdown run in overtime, breaking through seemingly almost all of the Pirates defense on the sideline and somehow squirting his way in for a score.
“They tried to push me,” the powerfully built 5-foot-8 back said. “I lowered my shoulder and put my hand down. There was three of them that were on me. They thought I was down, but I kept going. I broke three tackles and I got in the end zone.”
E-Hall coach Danny Landberg said Lewin was going to be the future, but he had to be the present in the postseason. He’ll need to be that more than ever Tuesday against Lincoln in the PSAL city title game at Yankee Stadium. Senior running back Shaquell Jackson, the team’s primary ball carrier, is out with the knee injury he sustained against Tottenville. Lewin will be in there for him once again getting most of the carries.
“Somebody goes down, somebody else has to come up,” Lewin said. “And I am my brother’s keeper. My brother went down and it’s my time to get the job down.”
Lewin grew up with E-Hall and the coaching staff. He’s been around the program since he was 9 years old. Ironically, it was Jackson and All-American senior Wayne Morgan that he looked up to the most. Now he’ll be taking the place of the former in the biggest game of his career.
“We didn’t think it would be to the level he is now as a sophomore, but he’s family,” Landberg said. “He wanted to be great. He loves it. He’s emulated Wayne and Shaquell all his life. When they were sophomores he was in [eighth] grade and he just wanted to be like them. He actually said he wanted to be better.”
This season didn’t start off great. Lewin broke his foot last year and it didn’t heal correctly. He missed the first three weeks of the season. Coincidentally, Erasmus Hall was 1-2 and is now 8-1 since he’s returned.
“I was frustrated because I saw we were losing a lot,” Lewin said. “I believe my team needed me.”
There’s no doubt about that. Fellow sophomore running back Curtis Samuel went down late in the year with a broken bone in his leg and now Jackson is gone, too.
“We need young guys like that to step up, because when somebody gets hurt somebody needs to step up,” Morgan said. “That’s what he did. He’s made a big contribution to our team. That’s why we got him here, just to make plays.”