While racking up 50 straight wins and capturing the past three Class 2A/1A state championships, Dunbar football was always able to confidently overcome any mistakes.
Friday night against Patuxent, one win away from a fourth straight perfect season and yet another title, the No. 4 Poets couldn’t find the answer.
Despite a fine defensive performance and 176-yard rushing performance from running back Cordae James, Dunbar’s miscues proved costly in an 8-6 loss to the Panthers from Calvert County at at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Dunbar finishes with a 13-1 record, while Patuxent — which fell to the Poets, 22-13, in the 2022 title game — has its turn as undefeated champions in closing with a 14-0 mark.
Finding themselves trailing 8-0 in the first quarter, the Poets could only muster an 18-yard touchdown run from James with 5:37 left in the third quarter that was followed by a failed 2-point conversion attempt. They had four other significant drives stall throughout the game, including one fumble, one interception and two stops by the Panthers’ solid defense on fourth down.
“We didn’t get the outcome we wanted,” Dunbar coach Michael Carter Sr. said. “The guys really worked hard, came together [this season]. Just at the end, we didn’t make enough plays to win it. So hats off to Patuxent, they made enough plays to win the game and we just have to get back to the grind.”
The Poets’ troubles on offense came early. After a 73-yard run from James on their first possession helped set up third-and-2 at the Panthers’ 8, running back Cole Floyd had trouble taking a handoff from quarterback Savion Witherspoon and fumbled.
The Panthers took advantage to produce their only points of the game, completing a four-play, 87-yard drive when quarterback Evan Blouir hit Keiden Gutierrez on a 71-yard touchdown pass. Bouir ran in the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead with 4:59 left in the first quarter.
Dunbar had a long drive stopped on downs at the 1-yard line in the second quarter. An early third-quarter drive halted at the Patuxent 29 when a pass from Witherspoon bounced off wide receiver Diosa Clyburn and into the hands of Panthers defensive back Evan Jones for an interception.
After James was able to get Dunbar on the scoreboard with an 18-yard run with 5:37 left in the third quarter, the Poets failed to convert the tying 2-point play.
Led by linebacker Darian Edmonds’ seven tackles, the Poets’ defense consistently bent but didn’t break against Blouir, who accounted for 210 total yards of offense.
Starting at their own 38 with 8:59 left in the game, the Poets marched 31 yards to reach the Panthers’ 31. On fourth-and-7, Witherspoon scrambled on a keeper, falling 1 yard short after being tackled by Kyle Wiley at the 25.
With 5:32 to play, the Panthers closed out the game with three first downs.
“I think as you go further in the season, through the playoffs, you got to make less mistakes. The more mistakes that you make at this time, teams take advantage of them,” Carter said. “Our defense played out — [Patuxent] got one big play. … We were in the red zone four times and didn’t score. So we got nobody to blame but ourselves for this. We’ll learn from this and come back stronger.”
Standout senior offensive tackle Joshua Blackston agreed.
“I think today was more of we made a lot of mistakes as a team and they capitalized on it,” he said. “Great win by Patuxent and we got to get back to working.”
Despite ending on the tough and unfamiliar note, the Poets claimed another Baltimore City championship and reached the state title game with a 6-0 overtime semifinal win at Frederick Douglass-PG.
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