Maryland high school football royalty met Friday night at Morgan State University. Dunbar and Fort Hill, a power out of Cumberland, both came in as three-time defending state champions with a combined 23 crowns in all.

For the No. 5 Poets, it was a special measuring stick to see exactly where they are leading up to the Baltimore City league slate.

Having their way at the line of scrimmage most of the game, making more big plays and successfully handling any adversity that came, the Poets claimed a 26-13 victory over Fort Hill. Dunbar extends its winning streak to a state-best 39 games while ending the Sentinels’ 22-game run.

Senior quarterback Savion Witherspoon threw for 245 yards and three touchdowns — two to wide receiver Jalen Gause — and Jabari Torbit had the biggest defensive play with an 82-yard interception return for a score in the final minute of the first half.

The three-time 2A/1A champs were clearly better than the three-time 1A champs on this night. Dunbar takes a 2-0 record into next week’s league opener against visiting Poly at 3:45 p.m. Friday.

“All we can do is build from this. This gives us a head up on the competition because we’re playing stiffer competition in the beginning,” Dunbar coach Michael Carter Sr. said. “Now, we’re getting into league play and what we need to continue to work on is our execution.”

Torbit gave the Poets their first break when he recovered a fumble late in the first quarter to set up his team’s first score. Facing a third-and-8 on Dunbar’s 47-yard line, Witherspoon found Gause on an out pattern that went 53 yards for a 6-0 lead with 42 seconds left in the first quarter.

After Fort Hill took a 7-6 lead midway through the second quarter, the Poets quickly responded when Witherspoon went deep to wide receiver Normauri Johnson on a 64-yard touchdown strike for a 12-7 advantage.

On the next drive, the Sentinels methodically marched down the field behind the strong running of Jabril Daniels to set up a third-and-2 at the Poets’ 21. That’s when Torbit made the game’s biggest defensive play, cutting in front of the Fort Hill receiver and returning the interception 82 yards for a momentum-shifting touchdown with 35 seconds left in the half. Johnson’s 2-point run gave Dunbar a 20-7 halftime lead.

Another Witherspoon-Gause touchdown connection, this one from 18 yards with 3:30 left in the third quarter, pushed the lead to 26-7. Primarily a running team, Fort Hill wasn’t able to threaten a comeback, getting one touchdown with 6:10 to play. Dunbar’s Corey Lewis recovered the Sentinels’ ensuing onside kick to help secure the win.

Witherspoon, who was featured more as a runner in the Poets’ 14-8 season-opening win over Virginia’s Stone Bridge on Sept. 6, was impressed with his team’s complete effort Friday.

“This game right here gives us a big confidence boost and now we’re just on to the next,” he said. “Once we got a lead, I just told everyone, ‘We got to keep going, keep going.’ We got some heart. The guys came out here tonight and made a lot of big plays. We just played another state championship team and it just shows us what we got on our roster and what we can get done in the future.”

Football

Milford Mill 35, Hereford 0: Milford Mill junior quarterback Owen Newberns’ patience had to be testing him when Hereford’s first drive of Friday’s game lasted nearly 10 minutes and included 15 plays before the Bulls turned the ball over on downs on Milford’s 20-yard line.

When he finally got on the field, he proved patience makes perfect. He threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Amauri Patterson on the Millers’ fifth play from scrimmage. On their sixth play, he threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Drey’an Pitts. On the next play, he tossed a 69-yard scoring strike to Derrell Pierson.

That’s three consecutive touchdown passes on three plays, and the Millers added two rushing scores in the second half.

— Craig J. Clary

Manchester Valley 14, North Hagerstown 13: After an abysmal first quarter that featured four turnovers and a defense that gave up a 66-yard touchdown run, it looked like Manchester Valley was in for a long night.

But for every ugly moment, every miscommunication, the Mavericks countered with a brilliant play when they needed it the most. Clinging to a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter, the Manchester Valley defense bent but didn’t break as they stopped a game-winning 2-point conversion attempt to beat North Hagerstown on Friday night.

After a 10-play touchdown drive, the Hubs lined up for the conversion instead of kicking an extra point that would’ve tied the game at 14 with under two minutes left. In the blink of an eye, North Hagerstown was left stunned as a host of Mavericks broke through the line for the stop.

— Timothy Dashiell

Dundalk 47, New Town 6: Make no mistake, Friday night was all about taking care of business for the Owls.

They scored in every quarter, finishing the game with a running clock from the middle of the third quarter on.

Dundalk (2-0) got three passing touchdowns from Micah Williams, two of which went to AJ Smith. Smith scored another of his own on the ground to pace the Owls.

— Mike Frainie, For The Baltimore Sun

Broadneck 35, Arundel 31: Six yards from the end zone, Arundel and Broadneck players flurried in every direction. Truthfully, the last play by Broadneck’s offense — with two minutes left in the game — lasted several seconds. But for CJ Watkins, everything stopped the moment he saw the opening.

Wildcats funneled toward running back Ian Mauldin and wide receiver Joey Smargissi, who both earned Arundel’s attention after rattling off consistent, prosperous plays all night. No one even moved to chase Watkins until he already crossed the plane with the game-winning touchdown.

Injuries and a cooler second half let Arundel lead by three with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Bruins battled back to not only recover control but hold the Wildcats off on home ground.

“No moment’s too big. Takes adversity to embrace it,” Watkins said. “We just put the county on notice. We can’t be stopped.”

Watkins (three touchdowns) showed off his belief in Smargissi from their very first hit — a 70-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the night. Smargissi accounted for 156 of Watkins’ 219 passing yards, the byproduct of endless work together this past week.

— Katherine Fominykh

Atholton 27, Long Reach 0: Atholton knows it has explosive playmakers. The Raiders are one of Howard County’s most physically imposing teams, but they can also win with dynamic speed.

It didn’t take long for Long Reach to find that out. On the Raiders’ second play from scrimmage Friday night, junior quarterback Tyler Bell hit wide receiver Delbert Cowsette on a swing pass. The senior sprinted down the Raiders’ sideline for a 65-yard touchdown, the first of three 55-plus-yard scoring strikes in a dominant first quarter.

Despite struggling with penalties and other unforced errors, Atholton closed out a victory over the Lightning.

— Jacob Steinberg

Edgewood 40, C. Milton Wright 20: For much of Friday night’s win, the Rams struggled to string together plays for a complete drive. Their defense similarly let would-be short runs extend into first downs and beyond.

However, enough crowd-stirrers improved Edgewood to 2-0.

The play that opened the host Rams’ final lead came at the hands of Mike Robinson, who scored his first of two rushing touchdowns. The junior quarterback scrambled out of the pocket, made a man miss and streaked up the left sideline for a 57-yard, tie-breaking touchdown in the fourth quarter.

There was a pick-six from Tevonte Williams, a house call that the junior intercepted at midfield to put Edgewood on the board. Later in the second quarter, Robinson was patient in the pocket before slinging a deep ball on the run to a wide-open Jeremiah Smith for a 70-yard touchdown. Then another to open the second half.

— Sam Cohn

Francis Scott Key 21, North County 6: Francis Scott Key entered the season with internal expectations that it had turned a corner, ready to right the ship after two straight one-win seasons.

In last week’s opener against Smithsburg, FSK established its blueprint to winning games this fall. And if it wasn’t clear enough, the Eagles doubled down on that recipe in an authoritative victory in Week 2, dismantling North County.

The score doesn’t reflect the utter dominance on the field, as FSK held the hosts to negative net yardage in the first three quarters.

Sophomore quarterback Jacob Etzler finished the day with blistering numbers, completing 12 of 14 passes for 202 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Senior wide receiver Bryson Lookingbill, who transferred during the offseason, caught four passes for 141 yards and a touchdown.

— Aidan Thomas, For Baltimore Sun Media

Patterson Mill 29, Havre de Grace 20

Bel Air 42, North Harford 3

Seaford (DE) 12, Winters Mill 10

Linganore 42, South Carroll 3

Glen Burnie 28, Annapolis 25

Chesapeake 16, Queen Anne’s 6

Severn 55, St. John’s Catholic Prep 30

Calvert Hall 39, Archbishop Curley 0

Gilman 20, Mount St. Joseph 3

Boys soccer

Calvert Hall 1, Mount Saint Joseph 0

C. Milton Wright 1, Perry Hall 0

Girls soccer

Hereford 9, Mt. Carmel 1

Roland Park 1, Severn 1

C. Milton Wright 3, Perryville 0

Severna Park 2, Arundel 1

St. Mary’s 5, Annapolis 0

Indian Creek 5, Chesapeake Science Point 1

Century 4, Southern 1

Field hockey

Fallston 2, Dulaney 1, OT

St. Timothy’s 7, Annapolis Area Christian 0

Bryn Mawr 7, John Carroll 0

Volleyball

Eastern Tech 3, Loch Raven 0

Towson 3, Carver A&T 0

Baltimore Sun Media staff contributed to this article.