Dunbar's Poets are no longer Baltimore City's best-kept secret as they enter tonight's 2A state football title game against Fort Hill of Cumberland at South Hagerstown High.
The Poets, who will attempt to become the city's first state champs, are ranked No. 1 in the Baltimore area with an 11-0 record. They've outscored their opponents by an average of 34 to 2.1, with seven shutouts.
Fort Hill (12-0) has seen the Poets in their most recent wins -- over Lake Clifton, Aberdeen and Cambridge -- and is suitably impressed.
"We really like their two running backs," said Fort Hill coach Mike Calhoun (78-23 in nine seasons), referring to Reggie Boyce (1,716 yards, 24 touchdowns) and Ali Culpepper (972 yards, nine touchdowns).
"They have some nice receivers and a defense that applies a lot of pressure. But our philosophy is to take what's given: Throw the ball if we have to, or run when we have to. Our phone people up top [assistant coaches in the press box] do a good job of picking things up as the game goes along."
Fort Hill is in the playoffs for the third straight time -- the 12th overall -- and is making its fourth state final appearance, having won the crown during a 12-0 season in 1975.
And having played a schedule that included teams from Washington, D.C., and West Virginia, as well as squads from Prince George's, Allegany, Washington, Howard, Garrett and Frederick counties, the Sentinels have "seen it all," said Calhoun.
Fort Hill routinely has played before big crowds, the largest being 15,000 at its regular-season win over Allegany. Home crowds spurred the team to come-from-behind victories over Martinsburg (W.Va.), by 35-28, and Oakland Mills, by 30-18. Trailing Oakland Mills, 6-0, at the half, the Sentinels scored 24 third-period points within a two-minute span.
"We've had a great following and we're accustomed to big crowds. The kids are really motivated by it," said Calhoun, who expects at least 5,000 Sentinels fans to be in Hagerstown. "But I think the crowds can work the other way, too, in motivating your opponent."
That's what happened for Dunbar last weekend against Cambridge, said linebacker Terrence Hinton.
"We learned that our team can play with heart in these types of tough games," said Hinton. "It was the kind of game we needed before this next one."
The 8-6 decision came over a Cambridge team that averaged 28 points to 1.8, with seven shutouts, including a 40-0 rout of Potomac of Prince George's County, a team then-ranked No. 3 by The Washington Post and widely viewed as the 2A's best.
Cambridge's Vikings dressed 65 players compared with Dunbar's 27, and were supported at the game by members of the tight-knit Cambridge community, who arrived on a couple of buses with the school band, cheerleaders and drill team.
The stands on the Cambridge side were filled long before game time, while Dunbar's fans came in more slowly.
In addition, Cambridge coach Doug Fleetwood, also the school's principal, was a veteran of 12 playoffs in his 16 years, including a state title in 1979. During the game, Fleetwood spoke via headset to his offensive coordinator and one of eight listed assistants, Al Thomas, a man who won seven state titles at Seneca Valley and Damascus in football-rich Montgomery County.
"They had a big crowd, far more players, their coaches were supposed to be better and they had been to the playoffs more times," said Hinton. "It was a stand-off and a dog fight, but we just had that never-say-die attitude."
Against Cambridge, defensive backs Lance Askins (nine interceptions) and Gary Smith and Bruce Pendles (five interceptions each) limited the run-and-shoot offense led by quarterback Ryan Fleetwood (1,702 passing yards, 13 touchdowns) to 56 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
And the Poets' run stoppers -- Hinton, fellow linebacker Tommy Polley and linemen Carl Carter and Shamai Butler -- played their normal fine games.
But Dunbar tackles its most potent offensive opponent of the season in the Sentinels, who averaged 37 points behind running back Shannon Trimble (5-11, 185).
Trimble, who is being recruited by Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Maryland, has 23 touchdowns on 1,266 rushing yards, and 427 receiving yards on 19 receptions.
"No. 22, their running back [Trimble], is pretty big and he's got some speed," said Dunbar coach Stanley Mitchell, in just his second high school season since coaching recreation leagues.
"But they do a number of things well, and we've spent the week trying to prepare for it."