Yesterday's 2A football state semifinal at Morgan State's Hughes Stadium came down to one play.
Cambridge, trailing, 8-6, with 32 seconds left, faced a fourth down at Dunbar's one-inch line after officials ruled that Mark Savage's knees had touched the ground before crossing the goal on the previous play.
The Vikings attempted an 18-yard field goal, but the snap slipped through the hands of holder John Dodson and behind kicker James White, where Dunbar's Gary Smith jumped on it at the 24.
"It was a bad snap on the outside, and I just came up with it," said Smith, whose effort allowed Dunbar to run out the remaining seconds for the win.
"We'd come too far to get beaten. Now we want a state championship."
No. 2 Dunbar (11-0), a 43-24 loser to Southern of Anne Arundel County in last year's semifinal, advances to Friday night's title game against Fort Hill (12-0), a 24-14 winner over Allegany, at South Hagerstown High School.
Each team entered yesterday's game with seven shutouts. Dunbar outscored its opponents, 366-18, and Cambridge (11-1) by 308-20.
Vikings quarterback Ryan Fleetwood, son of coach Doug Fleetwood, entered the game with 1,702 passing yards for 13 touchdowns out of the run-and-shoot, but was 5-for-11 for 56 yards yesterday, being intercepted by Lance Askins (nine interceptions) and Tommy Polley (six).
"We've been stopping people all year," said Polley, who has 40 career sacks. "Today, we played our usual defense and stepped up at the right time."
Cambridge was driving at Dunbar's 29 with 1:42 left in the first half when Polley's interception stopped its best scoring chance of the half.
The Vikings had fourth-and-one at Dunbar's 5 with 3:49 left in the third period when Polley (13 tackles) dropped Dontra Jones for a 3-yard loss.
Teammate Shamai Butler (eight tackles) got his 18th and 19th sacks of the year, and linebacker Terrence Hinton (eight tackles) and linemen Carl Carter (245 pounds) and Dwayne Green (240) helped to limit Cambridge to 166 total yards.
"They played us a deep man-to-man in the secondary and did a good job at it," said Doug Fleetwood. "They had a game plan and they did what they intended."
But Dunbar had just 154 total yards, with Reggie Boyce (1,645 rushing yards entering the game) scoring his 24th touchdown of the year despite being held to 71 yards on 18 carries.
But after a scoreless first half, Askins intercepted Ryan Fleetwood on the Vikings' first possession of the third period, returning it 15 yards to the Cambridge 19. Five plays later, Boyce's 1-yard run made it 6-0, and Anthony Wiggins (3-for-8, 71 yards) connected with Polley on the conversion pass with 7:25 left.
Cambridge's defense also set up its only score, Savage's 2-yard run with 11:56 left in the game.
Dunbar had the ball at its 14 on third-and-four when Tyquon Murray sacked Wiggins for a 13-yard loss. The ensuing punt, from the end zone by Dante Jones, traveled just 16 yards after being blocked by Brian Grachik. The score was 8-6 four plays later, but the Vikings' conversion run failed.
Some thought the Poets were in over their heads. Coach Stanley Mitchell, in his second season out of Pop Warner's little leagues, had 27 players compared to Cambridge's 65.
Dunbar's five-man coaching staff was outnumbered by Cambridge's staff of nine, including 16-year coach Fleetwood, in his 12th playoff.
"When it gets right down to it, we played with more heart," Smith said.
Cambridge-SD ..0 ..0 ..0 ..6 ..-- ..6
Dunbar .. .. ..0 ..0 ..8 ..0 ..-- ..8