The Dunbar Poets will face off against the Elkton Golden Elks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Dunbar is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They claimed a resounding 52-6 win over Queen Anne's County. Given the Poets' advantage in MaxPreps' Maryland football rankings (they are ranked 20th, while the Lions are ranked 62nd) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.

Jalen Gause
| 11/21/25 vs Queen Anne's County | 3 |
| 10/31/25 @ Patterson | 2 |
| 09/13/24 vs Fort Hill | 2 |
| 11/07/25 vs Friendly | 1 |
| 10/24/25 vs Digital Harbor | 1 |
A big part of Dunbar's victory came down to the chemistry between Kyrell Lynch and his top target Jalen Gause. Lynch threw for 140 yards and four touchdowns while completing 71.4% of his passes while Gause picked up 123 receiving yards and three TDs. Those three receiving touchdowns gave Gause a new career-high.
Dunbar was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 267 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 267 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Dunbar didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Kylin Holmes.
Meanwhile, Elkton put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. Everything went their way against Walkersville as they made off with a 43-22 win.
Elkton's win came from a few key players Dunbar will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Owen McBride, who threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns on only 18 passes, and also punched in one score on the ground. He has been hot recently, having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last four times he's played. Elkton also got a significant boost from Jamir Crawford, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 99 yards.
Dunbar's record now sits at 10-1. As for Elkton, their record is now 11-0.
Everything came up roses for Dunbar against Elkton when the teams last played back in November of 2022, as the squad secured a 54-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Poets since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps