The high school football season came to an end this weekend with four local teams playing in championship matches.

Wilde Lake kicked off with a well-fought, 13-0 loss to Westlake in the 3A competition, Dunbar followed with a stirring last-minute drive led by quarterback Jonathan Perry and capped with a two-point conversion by Tavon Austin for a breathless, 20-19 win over Fort Hill in the 1A Class.

And River Hill won its second consecutive 2A title with a 31-6 victory over Eastern Tech in the snow. Though Eastern Tech was disappointed, it too had a wonderful season, finishing 13-1 and can be proud too, because it never gave up.

Of those three contests, the one whose final outcome was the most surprising was Dunbar's. The title was the Poets' third in a row and for much of the afternoon it didn't appear likely.

Dunbar pulled out the victory with an 89-yard drive over the final 1:56 of the game, going to its two-minute drill that saw the Poets score the winning points with just two seconds left in the game.

Who even knew Dunbar had a two-minute drill? No one had seen it in a game all season, as the Poets won by such big margins that the 35-point margin, running clock rule was invoked most games.

"We've been up on a lot of teams," said Dunbar coach Lawrence Smith. "I'd ask why are we practicing the 2-minute offense, we'll never get a chance to use it. But Jonathan and my assistant, offensive coordinator Travis Blackstone insisted.

"Because they insisted, we practiced it every day. And because we practiced it every day, there was no panic or confusion. Everyone knew his assignment, and then the chemistry came together on that last drive."

Dunbar showed what being a great team is all about. Preparation. Being ready for the unexpected. The Poets were all of that.

And Smith said it wasn't just the preparation in practice. When he was asked if he wished his team had been more battle-tested during the regular season, he said, no, that his team had been tested.

"We score points in spurts," said Smith. "But that doesn't mean the games we played were not battles. Any time you play Baltimore City schools, you're going to be tested. Against teams like City College and Edmondson you are in a dog fight. The final scores may not indicate that. But they were dog fights. Every play was a battle and no one sees my players icing down for a week after each of those games."

As for the three-peat, something only five other schools have accomplished, Smith said his primary mentor Ben Eaton would have been proud and appreciative of the accomplishment.

"Three straight is remarkable,"Smith said. "The legendary Doug Duvall, another one of my mentors, is the last coach to win it three times. To be in that group is unbelievable. And I know Coach Eaton would have loved this. This was his dream and I know he's shining down on us.

"Coach Eaton always wanted this little school in East Baltimore to have a program that could be mentioned on the same level as . . . the best in the state."

There is no doubt Dunbar is there. For as Smith said, "Champions don't die and we didn't die" and then he thought about that amazing game-winning 89-yard drive and Austin's two-point conversion and allowed a smile.

"We left it all on the field," he said. "It's a great thing."

Sandra McKee