The Paul Lawrence Dunbar Poets of Baltimore City made easy work of the National Academy Foundation Eagles on Oct. 24, crushing their opponents, 44-7, at William F. ‘Sugar’ Cain Field in celebration of Dunbar’s homecoming.
But the victory was more than just a thumping that advanced the Poets to their sixth straight win and a 7-2 record, good enough for third place in the current Baltimore City Division I League standings. It was the first game since the return of Dunbar’s longtime head coach Lawrence Smith, who had been suspended from coaching the team following reports of an alleged hazing incident between players on the junior varsity football team that occurred last fall.
Smith, who had coached the Poets to a 86-10 record and five state championships since taking over in 2007, was placed on a year-long suspension by the Baltimore City School Board back in June; he told WBAL-TV reporters that he was suspended for “not properly supervising the boys’ locker room,” reportedly a violation of the Interscholastic Athletics handbook.
Smith immediately hired a lawyer to fight the suspension, but he still wasn’t allowed to coach his players until Baltimore City Circuit Judge Stephan Sfeakas recently ordered a 10-day restraining order that lifted the year-long suspension. According to WMAR-TV in Baltimore, Smith’s attorney said the Baltimore City Public School System didn’t contest a preliminary injunction that will keep the coach’s suspension lifted while he continues to litigate his case, which alleges that the school system did not handle his case legally.
While Smith was suspended, his appointed defensive coordinator, Michael Carter, took over as acting head coach and led the team to a 6-2 record; its only loss to a Baltimore City opponent was a 14-8 loss to the No. 2 ranked Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High on Sept. 12.
“It feels great to be back on the sidelines,” Smith told a crowd of reporters following the end of the game Friday. “I’ve felt…like I was a first-time coach all over again.”
Smith’s return came just in time for Dunbar’s scheduled matchup with the top-ranked team in Baltimore City Division I football, the undefeated Edmondson-Westside Red Storm (8-0 record) on Oct. 31. Kickoff for the Edmondson matchup is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Sugar Cain Field.