Dunbar secures state-record 14th title with 50-26 win over Lackey
December 5, 2025
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Dunbar Poets (12-1) offense tallied nearly 500 total yards, and was propelled by a quick start to knock off the Lackey Chargers (8-6), 50-26, to win the MPSSAA Class 2A/1A State Championship on a snowy Friday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Quarterback Kyrell Lynch completed 11-of-18 passes for 204 yards and 4 touchdowns, and the Poets added three more rushing scores, two on the legs of Kylin Holmes, en route to a 50-point output. Tallying 472 total yards, Dunbar racked up 22 first downs, and were only slowed down by two turnovers forced by the Lackey defense.
Dunbar jumped out to an early three-score lead behind three first quarter touchdowns. Holmes scored from a yard out halfway through the quarter, Donteze Branch entered the end zone from seven yards away, and Holmes would add a second score, this one from 30 yards away to take a 22-0 lead after a pair of successful two-point conversions.
What seemed to be destined to be a run away game for the Poets was quickly changed, however, after Chargers running back Ronald Johnson broke free on the first play of the next Lackey possession on a 65-yard touchdown run to bring the score to 22-6. Lackey added a second score in the second quarter as quarterback Malik Gordon connected with Dionte Little from 12 yards away, and the two-pointer brought the Chargers within 22-14, which would be the score at halftime.
Lackey was back in the game and within only one score, but it was the Poets who scored first in the third quarter on a 34-yard pass from Lynch to Khamari Tucker. After the score, Dunbar went with an onside kick, which it recovered, and then subsequently scored only two minutes later on a 31-yard reception by Holmes from Lynch to take a 36-14 lead.
The Chargers added a score late in the third quarter on a 10-yard rush by Gordon, but Dunbar scored on a quick drive with only 14 seconds remaining in the quarter to take a 44-20 lead over Lackey heading into the final quarter.
Dunbar scored one more time in the fourth on a 17-yard pass from Lynch to Normauni Johnson to reach the 50-point mark, and a late scored with under two minutes to play by Lackey on a 2-yard rush by Ronald Johnson would bring the final score to 50-26.
With 76 total points and 28 combined penalties, the game, which was played between snowflakes and freezing temperatures, took over 3 total hours to play.
The Poets, under first-year coach Courtney Bridget, Jr. secure their state-record 14th state championship title, their fifth in the past 10 years, and fourth in the last five seasons.
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