Germantown overwhelms Lincoln

There's at least one more game to go on the football schedule, but Germantown presented coach Mike Hawkins with an early retirement present last night, rolling to a 30-12 win over visiting Lincoln that clinched the Public League's White Division championship.

The win means an opening-round hosting berth for the Bears in the league playoffs, which begin next weekend.

The passing combination of quarterback Ramadan Abdullah to wide receiver Eddie Callendar accounted for a pair of touchdowns. Abdullah combined with Tavio Thomas for another touchdown and ran for a fourth.

The Germantown defense, headed by Dominique Simmons, William Parks and Derrick Jackson, shut down the Lincoln offense after an early touchdown on a pass from quarterback Joe McCausland to Omar Black. The Railsplitters' final TD came in the closing minutes.

After spotting Lincoln the 6-0 lead, the Bears (5-3 overall, 4-0 division) roared back with a 22-point second quarter that put the game out of reach.

The win not only gave the Bears the division crown but moved them up to the Red Division next season. The last-place team in that division will move down.

Germantown will now host a league playoff game next weekend against an opponent to be decided.

"Our defense was very good tonight," said Hawkins, who won a Public League crown in his first season at Germantown in 1999.

Hawkins had earlier announced that this would be his last season, providing the Bears with some added incentive, and they showed they had plenty of incentive last night.

"That Abdullah showed he can really fire that ball, didn't he?" Hawkins asked to several people standing around him at game's end.

The victory extended the Bears' winning streak to four games. They opened the season with nonleague losses to Emmaus, Cardinal O'Hara and Neshaminy, all very highly regarded teams.

"That's why we play those teams," Hawkins noted. "So we don't get down if we fall behind."

Lincoln coach Gene Kelly said the Bears' 22-point second quarter was too much for his team to overcome.

"We shut them down in the second half, but then they shut us down, too," he said.

Lincoln 6 0 0 6 - 12

Germantown 8 22 0 0 - 30

L: Black, 15, pass from McCausland (kick failed).

G: Callendar 14 pass from Abdullah (Abdullah run).

G: Abdullah 4 run (Ellis pass from Abdullah).

G: Thomas 31 pass from Abdullah (pass failed).

G: Callendar 20 pass from Abdullah (Saunders run).

G: Cooper 13 pass from McCausland (run failed).

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