FOOTBALL: WHICH DUNBAR TEAM IS BEST - 1994 OR 2007?

by Lem Satterfield

(See video interviews of Dante Jones, Willie McGirt, below)

Dunbar’s 12-0 team of 1994 was Baltimore City’s first state championship team — one which came from behind to win a battle of unbeaten teams, 30-15, over a storied Fort Hill program for the Class 2A state title — is often considered among the city’s best teams of all time, if not, the past two decades.

The following year, the Poets went 12-1 and defeated Winston Churchill of Montgomery County, 30-28, for the Class 3A state title.

Since then, the Poets have won three more championshipships, including their fourth and fifth, consecutively, in 2006, and, last fall, respectively, over Allegany County teams Fort Hill and Allegany.

Last fall’s Poets completed a 14-0 season, winning their 24th consecutive game, 58-34, over Allegany.

Click for Dunbar-Allegany highlights

Instantly, there were comparisons to the title-winning Poets of ’94 and ’95, which boasted among their players, two-time Defensive Player of The Year Tommy Polley, who went on to start at Florida State as well as star in the NFL.

Former Dunbar stars Dante Jones, now the head coach at Edmondson, and his Red Storm assistants, Duane Green, Antar Sims and Gary Smith have all engaged in discussions with others from time to time concerning their team’s status.

Among them, they tend to agree that the ’94 squad was the best of the two that they played on.

Jones, who guided the Red Storm to a Class 2A state title in 2006, believes the Poets of ’94 to be better even than last year’s squad, this despite the 2007 team’s accmplishing milestone after milestone under first-year coach Lawrence Smith.

Led by two-time Offensive Player of The Year, Tavon Austin, the 2007 Poets scored a state-record 196 points in four playoff games, eclipsing the old mark (141) held by state champion Urbana in 1999.

The Poets 58 point tied the record established by Valley High in 1977, when they routed Snow Hill, 58-16, for a state title. The combined 74 points by Dunbar and Allegany is also a state record.

DigitalSports stopped by Edmondson, recently, to discuss the comparisons with Jones, whose surprise guest, Willie McGirt, also threw his hat into the ring.

McGirt starred as Patterson of Baltimore City’s quarterback in ’94, when the Clippers lost their Class 4A state semifinal to eventual champ, North County of Anne Arundel County.

McGirt believed that the Clippers would have beaten even the Poets of ’94 during a year when the teams weren’t scheduled to play each other.

Below are some of the statistical highlights from Dunbar’s 2007 state title-winning team:

Last year’s Poets dedicated their season to former coach Ben Eaton, who died, suddenly, during the preseason on Aug. 27.

Eaton was an assistant to the Poets’ Stanley Mitchell in ’94, and, ’95, and the head coach for the Poets’ title-winning team of 2004.

The Poets’ linebacker, Keon Redhead, a fourth-year starter, played on the title-winning team of 2004, and 2006. The 2007 championship was won on Eaton’s 59th birthday, Dec. 9.

Quarterback Jonathan Perry threw scoring passes of 16, 33 and 37 yards to Sean Farr, as well as two-point conversion scores to Farr, and Tevin Brown.

Running back Tavon Austin ran for his 37th, 38th and 39th touchdowns of the year from 9, 32 and 59 yards.

Davon Muse and Michael McNeil ran for two, and one two-point conversion, respectively.
Terrell Lewis also ran for a 16-yard touchdown, and McNeil returned a fumble — caused by Brown — 80 yards for a score.

Perry was 11-for-20 for 235 yards, raising his season totals to 2,290 yards and 23 touchdowns. Farr caught five passes for 137 yards, raising his numbers to 49 receptions for 1,408 yards and 18 TDs.

Austin also caught three passes for 51 yards, and ran for 135 on eight carries, raising his rushing numbers to 2,553 yards on the year, and, 5,287 for his career. Austin has a state-record 92 career touchdowns.

Austin credited his offensive line of Devin Clark, Matthew Odezugo, Antonio Brown, Anthony Watters and Malcolm Speller.