So many people were in the parking lots and around the fences at Mervo during Friday night’s football game against Dunbar, where “multiple fights” broke out according to city police, that the game was shut down in the third quarter by the Baltimore City Fire Marshal.

Mervo coach Patrick Nixon and a Baltimore City Schools police officer said the crowd outside the stadium was so large there was no way for emergency personnel to get close in the event of an injury or another emergency. The crowd was preventing a police car or an ambulance from getting on the campus off Hillen Road.

“They are going to call the game,” Nixon told his players at about 8 p.m.

No. 10 Mervo trailed the sixth-ranked Poets, 16-8, with 1:58 remaining in the third quarter, but the Mustangs were gaining momentum.

“There was nothing going on. It was just there was no clear path for emergency equipment to get in,” said Nixon, who is also the Mervo athletic director. “People wanted to get into the game and it was sold out. Some people were trying to sneak in.”

Nixon said he wasn’t sure whether the game would be completed.

Dunbar athletic director Dana Johnson said she hoped they could pick up the game Saturday or Monday at the point where they left off.

A heavy police and fire presence remained on Hillen Road and a helicopter circled the Mervo campus for more than an hour after the game was called. A brief panic ensued about 20 minutes after it was announced the game would not continue. Most of the stadium was cleared and the Dunbar team had left by then, but people began racing across the Mervo field away from the school for unknown reasons.

In the Baltimore City Division I showdown, Dunbar had jumped to a 16-0 lead in the first half, but the Mustangs began moving the ball in the second half and cut the lead to eight. They were driving and had reached the Poets’ 32-yard line when the game was halted.

“With the momentum we had right there, it would be hard to duplicate that. But we’ll do what we’ve got to do if we get the chance,” Nixon said.

Neither team’s defense had given up a point this season, but the Poets (2-0) took advantage of several Mervo mistakes to put their first points on the board.

Joshua Carroll recovered a Mervo fumble with about three minutes left to set up the scoring drive. A personal foul on the Mustangs (3-0) with Dunbar on their 40-yard line, gave the Poets a first down. Andre Brandon ran for 11 yards on two plays and then scored on a 4-yard run.

Dion Crews-Harris made a terrific one-handed catch on Lamar Simpson’s conversion pass to give the Poets an 8-0 lead a minute into the second quarter.

The Mustangs went three-and-out on their next possession and a short punt set the Poets up at the Mervo 29-yard line. Quarterback Derek Dunn hit Raekwon Walker, who broke a tackle for a 19-yard gain.

Brandon finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run. Jamal Walker added the conversion run and the Poets were in command, 16-0, with 8:24 to go in the half.

The Mustangs, who struggled to move the ball on offense for much of the half, had their best chance to score after Terry Jones recovered a Dunbar fumble on the Poets’ 38-yard line with 1:45 left in the half.

A 23-yard completion from Kelin Kimbrough to Kennedy McKissic moved the Mustangs to Dunbar’s 10-yard line with 20 seconds left. On the next play, Kimbrough was sacked and Crews-Harris stripped the ball. Justyn Harris recovered for the Poets.

Nixon switched quarterbacks in the second half, going with Mike McClain, who got Mervo moving on a more consistent basis. Although the Mustangs didn’t score on their first drive of the second half, they cut the Poets’ lead in half on their next series.

McClain slipped a couple of tackles for a 17-yard run and then hit Rayvon Smith with a 14-yard scoring pass with 6:39 left in the third quarter. Carl Moffett scored on the conversion run to pull the Mustangs within 16-8.

katherine.dunn@baltsun.com

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