While Mervo has recently joined Dunbar as a perennial state power in football, the No. 4 Poets have made it clear who rules the neighborhood.

More proof came Saturday afternoon at Morgan State when Dunbar started fast and never let up to come away with a 42-27 win over the Mustangs in a Baltimore City showdown between defending state champions.

Running back Cole Floyd ran for three first-half touchdowns to set the tone and quarterback Savion Witherspoon helped ice the win with two touchdown passes in the second half.

Dunbar, the three-time defending Class 2A/1A state champions, move a big step closer to another Baltimore City crown by improving to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the league. It’s the fourth straight year the Poets won the regular-season meeting game against rival Mervo, which has won two of the past three 4A/3A crowns.

“This means a lot to me, a lot to the team and a lot to the school. We’re big on tradition and everything we do, we do it with a purpose,” Witherspoon said.

Floyd and costly Mervo penalties helped the Poets take a 28-15 halftime lead.

After the defense got a three-and-out on Mervo’s opening possession, the Poets got the ball on the Mustangs’ 40-yard line and Floyd broke through the right side untouched for a tone-setting touchdown for a 6-0 lead with 9:47 to play in the first quarter.

The Mustangs (5-2, 4-1) got an outstanding performance from quarterback Davon Smith, who found Tijuan Baker for a 62-yard touchdown pass that provided Mervo’s only lead at 7-6.

Floyd ended drives with touchdown runs of 54 and 5 yards to provide the Poets with a 22-7 lead. After Smith found Marquise McDougal for a 21-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 22-15, Dunbar took advantage of 40 yards of penalties to help complete a 70-yard scoring drive capped by Cordae James’ 3-yard touchdown run that made it 28-15 at the half.

“Just way too many penalties,” Mervo coach Patrick Nixon said. “It’s been biting us in the butt all season long. Some of them I think were questionable, but it is what it is and we made too many mistakes to overcome them.”

The Poets couldn’t sit on their lead in the second half. The Mustangs’ defense forced a quick punt to open the third quarter, and then the offense went 75 yards capped by a 21-yard run from Smith to make it 28-21.

Witherspoon and the Poets’ air attack took hold of the game soon after. First he found Gregory Cooper for a 16-yard score late in the third quarter and then completed a fourth-quarter drive with a 36-yard strike to Normauri Johnson for a 42-21 lead with 9:54 left. Smith’s 4-yard touchdown run capped the scoring.

Floyd said the key to the win started long before the opening kick.

“We just came in dedicated and ready to go,” he said. “This week, practice was excellent with everybody competing for everything. We were ready for this game, and that’s what we’re going to do next week. We’re going to keep competing with each other, make each other better — that’s it.”

Quick to give Dunbar its due, Nixon will now turn his attention on finishing the regular season strong and having his Mustangs ready for another state title push. He’s comforted having Smith as his team leader.

“He’s a great player — one of the best in the area, no question about it,” he said. “He has the heart of a lion and battled all the way through. So I’m proud of him and the effort he gave and the team. We didn’t quit. Hats off to Dunbar. They’re a tough team to beat so kudos to them — they’re the Poets.”

Both teams return to league play at 3:45 p.m. Friday with Mervo at Patterson and Dunbar visiting Carver Vo-Tech.

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