By Perry Green
AFRO Sports Editor
Dunbar tailback Nathan Ayers finished the game with a career-high 340 yards on 23 carries. (Courtesy Photo)
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(November 15, 2009) - Former Dunbar tailback Tavon Austin, the state’s all-time leading rusher, graduated last spring and is now a rising star at the University of West Virginia. But if you didn’t know any better, you’d think he put his old Poets jersey on for Dunbar’s 34-25 victory in the regional playoffs on Nov. 14.
Dunbar racked up more than 400 rushing yards in the victory of Forestville Academy in the Class 1A South semifinal, advancing to the next round with a 10-1 record.
Most of the Poets’ rushing yards came in the second half, after they made an adjustment to their offensive attack. Forestville had limited Dunbar to just 51 yards on their first five possessions of the game, and held a 12-0 lead over Dunbar at halftime.
That’s when Dunbar began using its version of the “wildcat offense,” moving tailback Nathan Ayers to the quarterback position, allowing him to either run or hand off the ball to sophomore tailback LaVar Highsmith.
“Forestville didn't know what to do with it,” Ayers said. “Our coach said that [Forestville’s defense] kept looking for Highsmith, so I just cut it up. I faked it to him and kept going with it."
Ayers finished the game with a career-high 340 yards on 23 carries, including touchdown runs of 20, 33, 42 and 66 yards.
Forestville (5-5) also did a decent job running the ball as junior tailback Rahmann Lee rushed for 157 yards on 22 carries, including a four-yard touchdown that gave the Knights a 25-18 lead late in the game.
But the Poets are on a mission to claim their seventh straight regional championship and fourth consecutive state title, and weren’t going to let Forestville stand in their way.
“We're not going to let anybody take this from us,” Ayers said. “I won't be stopped."
The ninth-ranked Poets will now prepare for a second round matchup against top-seeded Forest Park on Nov. 21.