Hobbled on one leg, with a horrible pain in his sprained left ankle, Lincoln's Kareem Folkes put the finishing touches on his high school football career.

The senior running back, who also plays cornerback, dropped into coverage on the final play of Tuesday night's Public Schools Athletic League title game against Erasmus Hall, needing to break up the pass to secure his team's win.

Just like he has all year, Folkes came up with a big play—and ultimately the biggest one of the Railsplitters' season.

"I knew they were going to go to (Erasmus Hall receiver Jean Louis Luder) because he's their tallest receiver and their go-to-guy, so it was man coverage and I knew once I locked him down, that was it," Folkes said. "I swiped the ball down and the game was over."

Arguably the premier PSAL player this season, Folkes came up clutch for his team with big plays on both side of the ball in Lincoln's 20-12 win over Erasmus Hall. The running back rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on his sprained ankle that kept him out of the games at time as well as defending the last two passes of the game.

"If we didn't have that kid on our team, I don't know where we'd be," Lincoln senior quarterback Jessel Jones said. "I feel honor to play with that guy right there man, he did it all for us, he's the horse."

Folkes suffered his ankle sprain against Dewitt Clinton on Nov. 26 and was dinged up all week. He had to come out of Tuesday's game at times, both on his own accord and also under coach's orders. He took four or five Aleve during the game to alleviate the pain.

Even with that ankle holding him back, Folkes was on the field for the final two plays of the game as a cornerback. Lincoln led 20-12 with less than 30 seconds left and Erasmus Hall faced a third down at Lincoln's 18-yard line.

On back-to-back plays, Erasmus Hall went after Folkes, trying to get the ball to Luder. On the first pass, Folkes interrupted with Luder's route to force the incompletion. On the last pass, he deflected it to secure his team's win. He couldn't even get up to celebrate after helping Lincoln to its first title since 1983.

"I know defense wins championships and late in the game where the field position was they had to throw the ball so I had to step my defense up and let people know that I'm a versatile player," Folkes said.

Offensively, Folkes was slowed down the most he had all season by Erasmus Hall, getting held under 100 yards and struggling to explode like he has in other games.

Still, bad ankle and all, the senior found a way to get into the endzone, scoring on a two-yard run in the first quarter to give his team a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. He finished his season with more than 1700 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns.

"It shows the heart of a lion, a competitor with hard work who never gave in," Lincoln coach Shawn O'Connor said about Folkes playing through his ankle injury.

Coming into the game, there had been talk that this game could decide who was the best player in the PSAL this season: Folkes or Erasmus' quarterback/cornerback Wayne Morgan.

After watching Folkes come up with big in the final game of his career, he left one of his teammates undoubtedly proclaim his teammates' standing among the city's elite.

"He's the undoubtedly the best player in the city, what you going to tell him now, Wayne Morgan?" Jones said. " He's the best player in the city. He broke up game-winning passes, scored on one leg, made first down runs, he's amazing."