Fort Hill shut out by Dunbar, 30-0

Sep. 13, 2025
by Alex Rychwalski

CUMBERLAND — Dunbar’s defense delivered a historic performance to stun Fort Hill and hand its head coach his first career victory.

Courtney Bridget is a defensive-minded coach, and his physical and athletic Poets dominated the point of attack for 48 minutes, holding Fort Hill to just four first downs and 99 yards of offense.

Caleb Tarver threw two touchdown passes and ran in another, plenty of offense for Dunbar to rout No. 1 Fort Hill, 30-0, on Friday night — the Sentinels’ first shutout loss at Greenway Avenue Stadium in 24 years.

Fort Hill’s struggles were exacerbated by its starting quarterback Noah House going down with a knee injury while playing linebacker on Dunbar’s first series, significantly limiting the Sentinels’ play book.

House never returned, and, while Fort Hill kept the game scoreless for more than a quarter, Dunbar was too much.

“It’s one of those games that we knew was going to be a ground-and-pound game,” Fort Hill head coach Zack Alkire said. “We were obviously going to hope to throw the football a lot tonight, but that didn’t quite happen.

“They were able to load the box up, and when they have the athletes that they have and fly to the football the way they do, it’s a recipe for trouble.”

Fort Hill, ranked No. 24 in the state media poll entering the game, fell to 1-1 this season and 1-7 all-time against Dunbar (1-1), No. 20 in the state.

Braelyn Younger led the Fort Hill ground game with 64 yards on 17 carries, the lone Sentinel back who gained more than 15 yards.

Dunbar out-gained Fort Hill, 299-99, and held the Sentinels’ rush offense to just 87 yards on 38 carries. The Poets forced five fumbles, recovering three, and had a 15-4 edge in first downs.

The Poets’ defense, led by ends Savion Williams and Eugene Cummings and linebacker Jabari Torbit, held the Sentinels scoreless at home for the first time since a 10-0 loss to Martinsburg on Oct. 27, 2001.

You have to go back to a 20-0 defeat to Allegany in the 1988 Homecoming game for the next example.

“We faced a lot of adversity coming up here, buses and traffic and getting here technically about 15 minutes before kickoff,” said Bridget, who was a defensive standout on the 2008 Poets that defeated Fort Hill in the state title game that year.

“This is a great program. Got a lot of respect for them. I played them in a state championship when I was in high school, so I know what they’re all about. They’ll probably be in states again this year. So I’m just very proud and very happy for my kids.”

Leading 14-0 at the half, Dunbar broke the game open by gashing the Sentinels on the ground to open the second half.

The Poets gained 65 yards on only five plays, all runs, capped by a nine-yard read option quarterback keeper by Tarver. The score pushed the lead to 22-0 after a conversion run by Donteze Branch with 10:10 left in the third quarter.

Branch then pounded in a one-yard run and another conversion with 3:20 left in the third to make it a 30-0 ballgame.

Fort Hill had the ball in Dunbar territory just once, getting stopped on downs on the Poets’ 47 on their penultimate drive.

“I’m a defensive-minded coach,” Bridget said. “I’ve been a defensive coordinator prior to being a head coach, so I take great pride in that. Really, it’s just about just reading your keys, doing your job, being disciplined.

“We know that this is what they do. It’s a tried-and-true system. They’ve been running it forever, so we know they have answers and counters for anything that we want to do. We just wanted to play with great effort, great energy, great enthusiasm and just run to the football.”

Tarver lost a camp battle to Lavell Watkins before the season, but he was called upon on Dunbar’s second series and led four touchdown drives.

Tarver completed 6 of 16 passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns. Normauri Johnson caught three passes for 78 yards and a score, Khamari Tucker had a 15-yard TD reception, and Kaiyon Newston had 13 carries for 80 yards.

Dunbar’s defense held Fort Hill to one first down and 45 yards of offense in the first half, forcing two turnovers.

Fort Hill’s defense matched Dunbar until the second quarter when Tarver tossed a pair of touchdowns for a 14-0 lead at the break.

Tarver connected with Johnson over the middle for a 13-yard touchdown and a 6-0 lead with 7:58 left in the second quarter after the conversion pass failed.

Tarver then hit Tucker in the corner of the end zone, and Tucker got a foot down for a 15-yard score with 1:57 left before halftime. Branch ran in the two-point conversion.

While Fort Hill didn’t allow any points off turnovers in the first half, its two lost fumbles lost the field position battle.

Its first gave Dunbar the ball at the Fort Hill 17. The Sentinels stopped the Poets on downs when Carson Bender swatted down a pass, but a three-and-out allowed Dunbar to take over near midfield.

Dunbar drove 54 yards on seven plays for its first score.

Fort Hill’s second, recovered by Malik Davis, resulted in a punt. However, the punt pinned the Sentinels on their own four-yard line.

After a three-and-out, Dunbar took over on the Fort Hill 32, and the Poets found pay-dirt three plays later.

“You can’t have turnovers,” Alkire said. “You’ve got to play a near perfect game to beat a team like Dunbar and we weren’t able to do that tonight.”

Younger ran 20 yards for Fort Hill’s lone first down of the opening half. Younger was injured on the Sentinels’ final play of the half but returned after halftime.

Dunbar was penalized 15 times for 125 times. Fort Hill had seven penalties for 60 yards.

Fort Hill left the field at Greenway Avenue Stadium beaten up and demoralized, but the ultimate goal — a record-breaking fifth consecutive Class 1A state championship victory — remains the same.

The Sentinels will look to get back on track when it heads to Southern (1-1) on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

“We’re gonna let them know how proud of them we are,” Alkire said. “They fought, they didn’t give up. Guys were injured, they wanted to get back in the game, but you’ve got to live to play the rest of your season.

“Really proud of the guys for the fight that they showed. We’ve got to get ready for next week.”