4 Takeaways from Maryland high school football on Friday the 13th

Dunbar extends its mastery over Fort Hill; Riverdale Baptist dominates Good Counsel; Westlake and Guilford start fast

Dunbar and Fort Hill renewed their long rivalry Friday night as the Sentinels traveled from Western Maryland to square off with Poets at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Dunbar continued its recent mastery over Fort Hill with a 26-13 victory, extending its current win streak to 39 games and snapping a Fort Hill win streak at 22. /

Friday (the 13th) marked the start of the second full weekend of Maryland high school football regular season. Three Top 20 matchups highlighted the evening, including a showdown of public school titans. 

Here’s some takeaways from Friday’s action. 

The Dunbar and Fort Hill rivalry was renewed - and continues to be one-sided

In a battle of state champions, Dunbar defeated Fort Hill, 26-13, at Morgan State University’s Hughes Stadium. The win extended the three-time reigning Class 2A/1A state champ Poets’ winning streak to 39 while Fort HIll’s 22-game run was snapped.

The teams last played in the Class 1A final at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in 2017 - a 30-26 victory for the Poets. In the 2010 1A semifinals, Dunbar got a touchdown in the final seconds for a 20-14 decision.

The Baltimore City powerhouse, ranked 13th in this week’s High School on SI Maryland Top 25, bested No. 14 Fort Hill for the sixth time in seven meetings Friday as senior quarterback Tavion Witherspoon threw two of his three scoring  passes to Jalen Gause. Jabari Torbit added a momentum-changing 82-yard interception return score late in the opening half.

It was the first regular season meeting between the public school powers who met for the first time in the Class 1A state final in 1994. Dunbar won 30-15 to claim Baltimore City’s first state title. 

In 1997, Fort Hill defeated the Poets, 22-6, in the Class 2A final at the University of Maryland. 

Next season, the Poets will travel to Cumberland to play Fort Hill at fabled Greenway Avenue Stadium. 

Riverdale Baptist School is for real after stunning win over Good Counsel

After two dominant efforts against less than stellar competition, there were some reservations about Riverdale Baptist going into Friday’s matchup with defending Washington Catholic Athletic Conference champion Good Counsel.

Not anymore. 

The No. 8 Crusaders led wire-to-wire in a 28-18 victory in the third-ranked Falcons’ 2024 home debut. Sophomore quarterback Kash Carter threw a pair of touchdown passes, including one to Cincinnati commit Geo Kontosis. 

Carter and Kontosis were among several players to transfer from Rock Creek Christian Academy, which was ranked in the Maryland state media poll for most of last season. Add another talented transfer in wide receiver Emmanuel Dyson (DeMatha Catholic) to a roster featuring a host of Power 4 commits, including Jayvon McFadden (offensive line; Ohio State), Cortez Harris (defensive line; Penn State) and Nahsir Taylor (defensive line; Maryland), Riverdale Baptist is one of the most talented teams in Maryland.

After losing four games by a total of 28 points last season, the Crusaders have won their first three games in 2024 by an average of 40 points. 

Westlake is off a strong start under new coach DaLawn Parrish

The start of the DaLawn Parrish era at Westlake is exceeding expectations. The Wolverines improved to 2-0 with a 29-13 road victory against Calvert Friday evening.

Parrish, who’s in his inaugural season at the Southern Maryland school after winning six Class 4A state titles at Henry A. Wise won his debut last week, 48-33 at Northern-Calvert. Northern-Calvert reached the 3A state semifinals last season (won 3A title in 2022).

Westlake is off to a 2-0 start under former Wise head coach DaLawn Parrish. /

Friday, Westlake bested Calvert, which lost in the 2A/1A state final last year, to move to 2-0 for the first time since 2016. Next week, the Wolverines go to Huntingtown, which played in the 2A state finals last year.

Guilford Park may not be your typical first-year varsity program

There’s usually growing pains - and a lot of losses - for a first-year varsity football program.

Guilford Park could be the exception. The Howard County (Md.) program improved to 2-0 with a 20-14 home victory over Patterson Friday.

Under coach Tom Montag, the Panthers went 8-1 last season as a junior varsity program. In its varsity debut in front of a sellout home audience, Guilford Park routed Hammond, 34-8.

The Panthers will try to reach 3-0 next week when they host Centennial. Centennial has yet to score in two games (106-0). 

“Guys older than us, seniors, they want to get a free win off of us, rack up some highlights off of this game,” Guilford Park junior linebacker Lance Johnson said to the Washington Post before the first game. “We just got to play.”