Poly High didn’t get off to the best of starts in its season debut against Prince George’s County’s Largo Friday evening. The host Lions scored on their first possession with the Engineers aiding the drive with an unsportsmanlike penalty.
But a high school football game is a 48-minute mini-marathon, and the No. 12 Engineers sprinted to a 52-12 victory.
Poly quarterback Durrell Milburn accumulated 140 all-purpose yards and threw scoring passes to junior Donovan Riley and senior Dexter Davis. Senior running back Gabriel Ali-El rushed for two touchdowns.
The Cold Spring Lane school answered Largo’s early score with 36 unanswered points en route to a second consecutive victory over Largo. The Engineers won, 40-26, last season in Baltimore.
The Lions had the early momentum Friday evening before a huge home audience as quarterback Christopher Thomas scored on a 12-yard run. Poly continued stumbling out the gate as Sharif Dendy fumbled after returning the ensuing kickoff 60 yards. The Engineers’ defense forced a three-and-out and partially blocked the Lions’ punt, but Poly muffled the ball and Largo recovered.
The Engineers got rolling on the second possession. Ali-El went six yards up the middle, completing a six-play, 37-yard drive. They gained the lead for good before intermission as Milburn found Davis from 19 yards out, ending a 10-play, 74-yard drive.
The second half was more of the same for Poly. Ali-El scored on a 19-yard run and Milburn found Riley for a 22-yard touchdown. Riley returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown, giving the Engineers a 36-6 advantage.
Stephon Scott and Orville Keize found the end zone for Poly, which arrived late to the Upper Marlboro school. Engineers coach Roger Wrenn was pleased with how his team’s respond to the early adversity.
“We were shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Wrenn. “If you’re a good team, you adjust. We looked terrific offensively and defensively.”
Paul Taylor led the Engineer defense with two sacks, and Jordan Garrison averaged 53.5 on two punts including a 62-yarder. Wilford Lynch, Mikel Davis and Arnel Farmer also performed well for Poly, which plays Mervo next weekend in a Baltimore City Division I contest.
Poly 52, Largo 12
Poly 0 14 14 24-52
Largo 6 0 0 6-12
First quarter
Largo-Thomas 12 run (run failed)
Second quarter
Poly-Ali-El 6 run (run failed)
Poly-Davis 19 pass from Milburn (Ali-El run)
Third quarter
Poly-Ali-El 19 run by Ali-El (run failed)
Poly-Riley 22 pass from Milburn (Milburn run)
Fourth quarter
Poly-Riley 60 punt return(Riley run)
Largo-Cosbert 55 kickoff return (run failed)
Poly-Scott 13 run (Garrison run)
Poly-Keize12 run (Garrison run)
