MPSSAA 2/1A State Championship Preview

The thirteenth. The MPSSAA record thirteenth. The Dunbar Poets will be seeking their 13th state championship when they face the Calvert Cavaliers at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial 

Stadium on Friday in the 2/1A state championship game. The Poets will also be looking for their third consecutive 2/1A state crown.  

In a season that begun in flux, the Poets team has ignored the outside forces that they can’t control, and focused on what they could control, their play on the field.  

And, after a rocky start in their opener with Loyola, in a game that never reached halftime, and never had a winner, followed by an 8-8 draw with Dunbar of DC, which did reach halftime, but went no further, the Poets reeled off seven straight wins to finish the regular season, including a 20-18 win over fellow state finalist Mervo, and six dominating wins over Baltimore City competition that amounted to a result of 332-12.  

After losing their coach Lawrence Smith on game day in week two, the Poets have produced like the Poets of old, but without the household names of yesteryear, and instead with a collective effort by those that learned from the leaders of their back-to-back state titles in ‘21 and ‘22. Those two teams were led by a backfield that finished among the top ten backfields in MPSSAA history over any two year period going back to its inception in ‘74, with quarterback Devin Roche and running back Tristen Kenan.  

Roche moved on to Old Dominion, where he became the first Monarchs freshman to play this season, and Kenan to Maine, where he produced 688 yards from scrimmage this season, and scored six touchdowns. In addition to Roche and Kenan, both two-time All-State picks, the Poets saw three other All-State selections graduate with the 2023 class. Center Ebubedike Nnabugwu was named to the first team, and is playing at Delaware State. Tony Hart III was named to the first team at safety, and now plays at Elon. And defensive leader Joshua Fedd was named to the second team, and is now at Harvard. 

Week three allowed Coach Michael Carter and this Poets team to refocus, “With all of the adversity, it made us come together. To focus on the team, and eliminate the outside noise. On the field, the guys just locked in to identify their own Identity. We’re a total different team than the last two years. We’re more of a grind it out team,  whereas in the past we had multiple home run hitters.” 

Despite all of the talent lost to graduation, the bare wasn’t dry. Carter had a number of returnees that showed glimpses of talent when they had some time to shine, and were just waiting for ‘their time’, when they’d become the leaders and top producers, and the Poets added several key transfers to the cast. Carter did have junior quarterback Savion Witherspoon – 6’3 170 – returning, who helped lead the Poets to their title in ‘22, taking the majority of snaps behind center after Roche was injured in the Mervo win. This season, the junior has completed 61.8% of his passes and thrown for 2,047 yards and 18 touchdowns, while adding 425 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground.  

The Poets had senior Deshawn Parks returning, after finishing third on the team in rushing last year, behind Roche and Kenan, with 965 rushing yards, and added junior transfer Cole Floyd from Archbishop Curley, who rushed for 692 yards and eight touchdowns for the Friars as a sophomore. This season, Parks has totaled 1,243 yards from scrimmage and has scored 12 touchdowns in ten games. Cole has rushed for a team-best 1,154 yards, and has scored a team-best 16 touchdowns.  

Senior Antonio Lyde returned after finishing third in the receiving yards on the ‘22 championship team, and leads this ‘23 edition, with 1,006 receiving yards and ten touchdown receptions. Witherspoon has another big target in Malachi Washington – 6’2 192 – a transfer from Kenwood who played quarterback for the Bluebirds. Washington’s 694 receiving yards rank second in the team, while Parks 421 receiving yards ranks third. 

Defensively, the Poets returned senior Anthony Campbell – 6’1 235 – who stepped in as the leader after an outstanding season junior season, one in which he clinched the ‘22 title game with an 87 yard ‘pick 6’ in the game’s final five minutes. Campbell leads the Poets in tackles this season, with 75, including 52 solo. Junior defensive end Brian Collins – 6’2 195 – has totaled 30 tackles for loss and 24 sacks. On the other end, Jabari Torbit – 6’0 222 – has totaled 17 tackles for loss and 14 sacks. Junior defensive tackle Eli Turpin – 5’10 220 – has supplied 37 solo tackles, and sophomore linebacker Joseph Benjamin has totaled 30 solo tackles.  

While the Poets embark on their 16th title game appearance, the East Baltimore powerhouse had to fend off a game Patuxent team for a second year in a row to get there. Last December, the Poets fought back from a 13-0 deficit to the Panthers in the 2/1A championship game, and scored 22 unanswered points, capped off by Campbell’s ‘pick 6’ to capture a 22-13 victory. Friday, the Poets trailed 14-6 in the second quarter, before going on a 30-7 run to take a 36-21 lead, and then settling on a 36-29 win over the hosts in Lusby. The victory was the Poets 36th straight win a row, the longest current mark in the MPSSAA.  

The Poets now face another SMAC (Southern Maryland Athletic Conference) powerhouse in Calvert, after the 12-1 Cavaliers edged Forest Park, 17-14, in their semifinal. The Cavaliers have played a number of low-scoring tug-of-wars this season, including their only loss of the season to fellow finalist North Point, 20-10, and posting a 16-6 over fellow finalist Huntingtown, and a 19–14 victory over Patuxent. Friday, the Cavaliers needed a 32 yard field goal from senior Keith Baker to avoid overtime with Forest Park, and earn the second state title game berth in their programs history, 23 years after winning their only state crown in 2000. 

Cavaliers coach Rick Sneade took over the head coaching job in 2011, after the program had suffered eight consecutive losing seasons. Sneade’s first head coaching job came at 19 years of age at his alma mater, Northern, where he played under Jerry Franks. Sneade was the head coach of the jayvee for four seasons before going back to school to get his undergraduate degree. After graduating in 1999, Sneade linked up with his former coach at Calvert, coaching the offensive line, and together they helped lead the Cavaliers to the state championship in 2000. Franks would go on to the University of Connecticut the following year, and Sneade stayed around two more seasons, with the Cavs going 17-4 in that span.  

The Cavaliers notched an 11-2 record in 2016, losing to Elkton, 21-6, in the 2A semifinals, and advanced to the ‘Final Four’ a year ago, before getting routed by the Poets, 47-6. The Poets, behind Roche and Kenan, rushed for 338 yards in the victory. Still, these Cavaliers can’t be overlooked, after going toe-to-toe with two state finalists this season, and garnering a split with the pair of SMAC titans.  

The Cavaliers, like the Poets, featured a balanced offense, with a lean to the ground game. Senior Domaine Wallace Jr leads the Cavaliers running attack for a second year in a row, rushing for 1,249 yards and 15 touchdowns on 201 carries, a year after rushing for 1,223 yards and scoring 27 touchdowns, and earning All-State honors as an athlete. Wallace, who grabbed five interceptions last season, has totaled 38 solo tackles this season, including eight for loss. Wallace Jr rushed for 135 yards on 27 carries in the Cavs semifinal win over Forest Park. Senior quarterback Dajuan Robinson has completed 79 of 146 passes (54.1%) for 1,295 yards, with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Robinson has also rushed for 397 yards and four touchdowns on 65 rushing attempts. Senior Jalen Barnes – 6’2 180 – is Robinson’s top target, nabbing 37 receptions for 577 yards and eight touchdowns.  

Junior defensive end King Jones – 5’10 205 – has been a menace in opposing backfields, producing 18 tackles for loss, 26 quarterback hurries, and 5.5 sacks. Senior linebacker Marquel Holland – 5’11 205 – leads the team with 66 solo tackles, while sophomore linebacker Cameron Wilson – 6’0 185 – ranks second, with 55. Senior defensive lineman Damon Mansfield has contributed 14.5 tackles for loss, 22 quarterback hurries, and five sacks. Sophomore Brunsie Carrington has picked off seven interceptions, and added five pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.  

Though both Campbell and Parks shined in the Poets 46-7 rout of the Cavaliers in the semifinals last season, with Campbell leading the team in tackles, with nine, and Parks scoring a touchdown, the two seniors are the leaders and top producers now, and won’t let their team overlook the SMAC juggernaut. After all, these Cavaliers came closest to North Point this season, beat one of this year’s 2A finalists – Huntingtown, and beat one of last year’s 2/1A finalists, Patuxent, by two points less than the Poets did.  

Coach Carter, Campbell, Parks and Co., are going for history – #13, which would lift the Poets on a mantle by themselves, separating them from Seneca Valley and Damascus, who both are tied with the Poets with 12 crowns. This is the Poets 30th season competing in the MPSSAA, while the majority of its teams are playing, or have just completed, their 50th campaign in the association.  

Coach Carter stresses that this is just the culmination of an 11 month process, and they are still a step away from the ultimate goal, “We’ve been preparing for this opportunity since January 5th, when we started study hall and off season conditioning. This team is really connected, with no egos, just one goal of winning their last game. Now we have to finish the task this Friday to achieve our goal – the state championship.” Number 13.  

#7 Dunbar (10-0) v #10 Calvert (12-1) 

@ Navy-Marines Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis Friday 4:00 

Playoff history: D – 73-14, 12-3 in state championship game; C – 15-6, 1-0 in championship game 

Scoring: D – P 50.8 PA 7.1 PD +43.7; C – P 29.5 PA 9.5 PD +20.0 

Coaches: D – Michael Carter 1st season 10-0, 3-0 p/o; C – Rick Sneade 13th season 78-59, 11-4 p/o 

Offense: 

D – Passing #5 Witherspoon 2047/18 pass, 426/6 rush; Rushing #3 Floyd 1154/16, #4 Parks 822/11; Receiving #8 Lyde 1006/10, #7 Washington 694/7 

C – #8 Robinson 79-146-1295-7 pass, 397/4 rush; Rushing #25 Wallace 201-1249-15; Receiving #1 Barnes 27-577-8 

Defense: 

D – #1 Campbell 75t, 52 solo; #15 Collins 30 tfl, 24 sks,; #30 Torbit 17 tfl, 14 sks; #40 Turpin 37t; #21 Benjamin 30t; #2 Hart 2 int 

C – #3 Jones 18 tfl, 26 qh, 5.5 sks; #13 Holland 66 solo; #7 Wilson 55 solo; #33 Mansfield 14.5, 22 qh, 5 sks; #4 Carrington 7 int