BOROUGHWIDE — Although Lincoln High School fell short of making another appearance in the PSAL championship game at Yankee Stadium with a loss in the semi-finals, three of the team’s outstanding players still made the trip to the game to collect the awards that they earned during the regular season.
Israel Abanikanda who was named as the New York City Offensive Player of the Year for 2018, was named as this season’s Gatorade Player of the Year for New York State, which is awarded for athletic excellence and academic achievement.
During the regular season, Abanikanda was the league’s leading scorer (150 points), and the league’s leading rusher (1,159 yards) as well as the league’s leading scoring rusher with 19 touchdowns.
In addition to awards for his leading stats, Abanikanda was named as the PSAL Player for the Week, for Week 7, for a 155-yard and three-touchdown game during Lincoln’s 36-22 win over Susan Wagner.
Combining his athletic talent and academic performance, Abanikanda has earned a full athletic scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh.
Along with Abanikanda, the PSAL also recognized Lincoln’s leading quarterback Jahzair Hubbard, who completed 89 passes and threw for 14 touchdowns. Hubbard’s passing teammate Quincy McDuffie was also named as the top receiver as the offensive end caught 34 passes.
When asked to account for their leading statistics, the passing combination agreed that a lot of practice pays off for good results and that they still have another season to play. “We’re juniors and we’ll be back here [Yankee Stadium] to play for the championship,” said a confident Hubbard speaking for himself and teammate McDuffie.
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