Defensive stands lift Douglass past Gwynn Park, 8-0

The Frederick Douglass football team's defense kept bending as far as it could during Saturday's 2A South Region title game at Gwynn Park.

On five consecutive possessions, the Yellow Jackets drove inside the Douglass 20-yard line. But each time, the Eagles' defense kept Gwynn Park out of the end zone.

Those defensive stands lifted Douglass past Gwynn Park, 8-0, and into the 2A semifinals, where the Eagles (10-2) will take on Baltimore's Eastern Tech (11-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at the Community College of Baltimore County-Essex. Middletown (8-4) travels to Queen Anne's (12-0) in the other 2A state semifinal.

Saturday's Douglass-Gwynn Park game was a stark contrast from the first meeting of the season between the two Prince George's County rivals. On Oct. 19, Gwynn Park rolled to a 35-14 victory. Douglass coach J.C. Pinkney said that game was on his players' and coaches' minds in the days leading up to Saturday.

"Our defense played like crazy today," Pinkney said. "I have to tip my hat to the defense because they won us this game. That first time [Gwynn Park] played us didn't sit too well with us. We were on these kids all week and they did an excellent job."

The Yellow Jackets' first chance to score came at the start of the second quarter when they had a first and goal from the Douglass 1-yard line. But after an offside penalty, Douglass stopped Gwynn Park standout running back Khalek Shepherd four consecutive times, and the Yellow Jackets turned the ball over on downs.

Douglass immediately went to work, as quarterback Richard Barber connected with receiver Will McKenzie on a 73-yard pass that got the ball to the Gwynn Park 11-yard line. McKenzie said he asked for the ball and told the coaches he could get open.

"I saw the outside linebacker wasn't paying attention and the safety was all the way over on the other edge of the field," McKenzie said. "I went over to the sideline and called the play and I am just happy that it worked out."

The Eagles capitalized on the big play when Barber found Milton Williams in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown pass. Barber ran for a two-point conversion to give the Eagles all the points they would need.

Gwynn Park had another chance to score before halftime, but its drive stalled at the Douglass 20-yard line. The Yellow Jackets attempted a field goal, but Lord Carson's kick came up short.

The next two Gwynn Park drives suffered the same fate when quarterback Marc Lucas was intercepted in the end zone. McKenzie picked off a pass to end the first drive, while linebacker Damien Tyler ended the second drive, batting the ball into the air before grabbing it.

"I was supposed to rush the quarterback but no one was blocking me, so I thought it was going to be a screen pass," Tyler said. "The ball came so fast that I had to get a second grasp on the ball."

The Douglass defense needed a great performance because the offense couldn't get anything going. Douglass ran just nine plays in the third quarter and didn't get a first down in the second half until midway through the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile Gwynn Park's defense constantly gave its offense good field position. The Yellow Jackets started four consecutive drives in Douglass's territory.

Gwynn Park had one more shot at the end zone in the fourth quarter, but Lucas was stopped on fourth down at the Douglass 9-yard line with 6 minutes, 47 seconds remaining. The Eagles ran out the remaining time to seal the victory and the region championship.

"We didn't have a good week of practice before we played them the first time, so I knew if we had some good practices then we would be okay," McKenzie said. "We worked hard in practice because we knew it was going to be an exciting atmosphere."

Gwynn Park's season came to an end after an unbeaten regular season and the Prince George's County 3A/2A/1A League title. Coach Danny Hayes said those accomplishments won't be forgotten.

"I told the guys that they would have setbacks in life and this is one of those setbacks," Hayes said. "They are young enough to get over it and just move on from it."