GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Lincoln Trophy is far from just an ordinary prize bestowed upon the winner of the Gettysburg-Franklin & Marshall football game.
 
The initial thought behind the award was to find something to represent the rivalry between Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall, a series that dates all the way back to 1890.
 
Gettysburg head football coach Barry Streeter made the suggestion of making the trophy look like President Abraham Lincoln's stove-pipe hat. The two institutions and surrounding communities are connected by one stretch of road, Route 30, better known as the "Lincoln Highway."
 
The imagination held nothing to the final product. Local historian and woodworker Bill Hewitt dedicated his time to transforming a piece of wood into something much more.
 
The pieces used in the creation of the award were pulled from two "witness trees" that stood tall during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.
 
One tree was an oak that overlooked the position of Confederate troops as they assaulted the Peach Orchard, Wheatfield, and Round Tops on July 2. The other stood outside the Christ Lutheran Church which served as one of the first hospitals established to treat wounded soldiers during the battle.
 
It is also believed President Lincoln passed by both of these trees on the day he gave his Gettysburg Address four months after the battle.
 
A bullet from the battle was found within one of the trees and has been embedded within the trophy itself, safely ensconced under hat.
 
Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall will battle for the trophy this Saturday, Nov. 14, at Sponaugle- Williamson Field in Lancaster, Pa. Kickoff is slated for 12:30 p.m.