BALTIMORE, Md. — Dunbar and Saint Frances both picked up big wins in Baltimore high school football action this weekend.
At Dunbar, the Poets hosted Forest Park in a Baltimore City clash between two undefeated teams. Both teams entered the game 2-0.
Dunbar got the ball first and marched down the field, punching it in on a 4-yard touchdown run by Pharrell Wilson. The Poets led 6-0 after missing the two-point conversion.
Points were hard to come by in the first half, but Forest Park got down near the goal line and Amari Blue went in for a 7-yard touchdown. After adding the two-point conversion, the Foresters led by 2.
Dunbar answered with a big drive in the final two minutes of the first half. Facing third and long, Kyrell Lynch found Wilbert Williams, who hauled in the pass with one hand.
The Poets eventually drove down to the goal line, where Lynch hit Mehki Wiggins for a sliding grab in the end zone with just 7 seconds left in the half. That gave Dunbar a 12-8 halftime lead. The Poets opened it up in the second half, ultimately running away with a 36-14 victory.
At Under Armour Stadium, the Saint Frances Panthers — regarded by many as the best high school football team in America — played their first home game of the season against Hewlett Sports Academy after starting 3-0.
It took just 3 snaps for the Panthers to get on the board. Sanir Brooks went untouched into the end zone to give Saint Frances a 7-0 lead.
On the Eagles' first offensive snap of the game, a mistimed handoff put the ball on the ground. Tyrone Elee — younger brother of former Panther and current Maryland Terp Zion Elee — scooped it up for an easy fumble return touchdown, making it 14-0.
The Panthers' defense struck again on the very next defensive snap. Another fumble by the Eagles led to another scoop-and-score, this time by James Branch. Just 90 seconds into the game, Saint Frances led 21-0.
The defense added a pick-six before halftime, with Antonio Smith intercepting a pass on the final play of the first half.
Saint Frances shut out Hewlett 43-0, giving the Panthers a comfortable win in their home opener and improving to 4-0 on the season. Head coach Messay Hailemariam said there is still room to improve.
"I thought that offensively we struggled a little bit. We didn't have a lot of continuity. Defense, we scored four touchdowns I believe, or maybe a little bit more. That's amazing. We always do that but I would like for us to be a little more balanced. I mean I'll take it with a grain of salt. You know football is about making sure that you win the game ultimately and they did do that. The big thing I want to make sure they stay focused on is trying to be the best team in the country. That kind of display is not quite the answer that's going to get us the national championship if that's what we're striving to which we are every year," Hailemariam said.
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