Big Plays Give Poets Edge

Football No. 13 Dunbar 22, No. 8 Poly 18

Despite 438 Yards Of Offense, Engineers Take First Loss As Special Teams Unravel

Working its option offense to near perfection, No. 8 Poly moved the ball seemingly at will Friday night against Baltimore City rival Dunbar.

In the end, however, it was big plays by the No. 13 Poets that proved the difference in Dunbar's 22-18 win.

Despite allowing 438 yards of offense, the Poets used a blocked punt return by Quinton Brown, a 74-yard punt return by Aaron Haynes and a 96-yard run by Nathan Ayers to continually stay one step ahead of the previously unbeaten Engineers. The win positions Dunbar (8-1 overall, 6-1 City Division I) to claim a city title with a win next week against Digital Harbor.

"They grew up tonight," Dunbar coach Lawrence Smith said. "They played good team ball. I told them they were in playoff mode."

Ayers, a 5-foot-9, 200-pound senior, was their spark plug, running 18 times for 240 yards. His biggest touch came early in the fourth quarter, after a fumbled exchange ended Poly's scoring drive at the Poets' 4.

On the next play, Ayers took the handoff, followed his blockers around the right side and sprinted 96 yards down the sideline to give his team a 22-12 lead.

"All we kept saying was, 'We've got to get out of this hole,' " Ayers said. "I told my linemen, 'Block hard. Just give me an alley and I'm going to take it,' and that's what happened."

"We sort of did a good job defensively, but we just allowed the big play," Poly coach Roger Wrenn said. "We just didn't take proper pursuit angles and keep it to a minimum."

Led by quarterback Antoine Goodson (22 carries, 144 yards), Poly (8-1, 6-1) responded. The Engineers made it 22-18 on a 59-yard pass over the middle to Gabriel Ali-El, then got the ball back with a little over 4 minutes to play.

Poly, however, only made it to Dunbar's 40 before time ran out on its perfect season.

"We knew they blew everyone out all year, so we felt like the second half was going to be key for them," Smith said. "They've never been there before. Our kids kept responding."

Dunbar looked strong early, putting together a pair of long drives on the first two possessions of the game. Each time, though, the Poets came up short, first on a fourth-and-3 at the 8, then losing a fumble on a fourth-and-1 at the 13.

It took a big play on special teams to finally put Dunbar on top, with Haynes breaking through the line to block Jordan Garrison's punt, and teammate Brown returning it 24 yards for a touchdown with 4:54 left in the half.

"Our special teams let us down today," Wrenn said. "We set up a touchdown and gave up another touchdown because our punt team just didn't do their job very well."

D 0 6 8 8 - 22 P 0 6 6 6 - 18

D-Brown 24 blocked punt return (pass failed)

P-Ali-El 31 run (run failed)

D-Haynes 74 punt return (Ayers run )

P-Goodson 4 run (run failed)

D-Ayers 96 run (Edwards pass from Pittman)

P-Ali-El 59 pass from Goodson (run failed)