No. 20 Flowers capitalizes on E. Roosevelt miscues

The Eleanor Roosevelt High School football team felt good about its chances of making the 4A South Region playoffs heading into its matchup against Charles H. Flowers on Saturday afternoon.

But after the 20th-ranked Jaguars walked away with a 22-13 victory in Greenbelt, the Raiders were looking for ways to feel good about themselves. Roosevelt fell to 6-3 and lost for the second time in three games.

The Jaguars (8-1) got touchdown runs from senior tailbacks Reggie Woods and Raymone Wilson, who both returned to the lineup after injuries prevented them from playing in recent weeks. Woods had been out with an ankle problem since an Oct. 10 loss to Suitland, and Wilson had an arm injury that kept him sidelined since an Oct. 3 win against Laurel.

"It was just a good, hard football game between two good teams," said Flowers Coach Mike Mayo. "A bounce here or a bounce there, it could have gone either way. Even though it was just a regular season game for both teams, it's like playoff football this late in the season considering you're going to see the same team in two weeks anyway."

Indeed, it's possible the Jaguars and Raiders could see one another again in the 4A South playoffs. Flowers wraps up its season next week against Henry A. Wise (9-0), while Roosevelt faces Suitland (8-1). Those four teams will be the 4A South playoff qualifiers.

Flowers senior tailback John Clark ran for 86 yards, while senior tailback Chris Akinsuyi had the Jaguars' other touchdown as he scored on the first play of the second quarter on a 14-yard run. Akinsuyi's two-point conversion gave the Jaguars an 8-0 lead.

Two possessions later, the Radiers got on the board on a 1-yard run by quarterback Shawn Petty with 2 minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

On the Raiders' first possession of the third quarter, Flowers senior defensive tackle Andrew Brooks recovered a botched handoff between Petty and Roosevelt senior tailback Dominic Shepard. Brooks was not done, as he intercepted Petty in the fourth quarter, and he also shared two sacks in the game. His interception gave Flowers the ball at the Roosevelt 14-yard line. Two players later, Wilson scored on 3-yard run to give the Jaguars a 22-7 advantage.

Petty completed 12 of 19 passes for 133 yards and tossed a touchdown pass to Mitch Kempisty with 2:23 to go in the fourth quarter to bring Roosevelt within nine points at 22-13. But Flowers recovered the Raiders' ensuing onside kick attempt and ran out the clock.

"We had critical turnovers in the second half," said Roosevelt coach Tom Green, whose team lost for the second time in three games. "We messed up on an option play and Shawn threw the interception on the screen. I think we gave [Flowers] great opportunities to score, and they did."

Game notes: Jaguars' junior defensive back Terrell Jackson was taken to Prince George's Hospital Center at halftime for what Flowers Athletic Director Carl Rose said was "a possible concussion from a helmet-to-helmet hit."

This story is from The Gazette group of community newspapers published by Post-Newsweek Media, a unit of The Washington Post Co.