The annual Turkey Bowl, held every year to determine the District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association (DCIAA) football champion, has become a local Thanksgiving ritual.
For 55 years, two teams from the league have gathered on Thanksgiving morning for fans to see the best in the league, and this year on display were Dunbar and Coolidge, who played for the championship title at Eastern High School in Northeast D.C.
While Dunbar proved victorious in the matchup on Nov. 28, the two schools were just a portion of this year’s special event. In addition to the game, coaches who served the football programs over 20 years were honored at halftime. The all-league members from the various teams, including the Player and Coach of the Year, were also honored as part of the halftime activities.
Yet perhaps the most emotional part of the game was a tribute to a beloved member of the Coolidge coaching staff, Darnell Dailey, who died the day after the team’s semifinal win over Eastern.
A tribute was paid to him in the Game Day souvenir program and before the matchup there was a moment of silence in his honor.
“He died doing what he loved,” said Coolidge head coach Kevin Nesbitt. “It was so emotional for the entire program because of what he brought. He was more than just a coach. Trying to get the players ready for a championship with it happening is one of the most difficult things I have had to do. I told them that they have to not win for him but to go out and represent themselves and the program. That’s what he would have stressed.”
Dunbar and Coolidge Go Toe-to-Toe in Hard-Fought Game
As for the game, Dunbar’s Crimson Tide and the Coolidge Colts worked their way through different paths to the championship.
Coolidge (5-6), which had not participated in the Turkey Bowl since 2011, defeated upstart Eastern High School (7-5) in the semifinals to get to the Turkey Bowl.
Dunbar (10-1), the defending champion, had a much easier path to the game after easily handling H.D. Woodson in the other semifinal. The Crimson Tide came into the game riding a nine-game win streak, the only loss coming back on to Friendship Collegiate.
Dunbar got on the board first when senior quarterback Brosnan Dukes hooked up with senior wide receiver Tristian Waters for a 66-yard score.
The highly motivated Colts, playing for their fallen leader, were not impressed, and they responded with back-to-back touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Aleem Moore to senior wide receiver Nazir McKenzie. The second score gave Coolidge a 13-7 advantage early in the second quarter.
After several defensive stops and turnovers on both sides, it was from there that Dukes, one of the top quarterbacks in the DMV, took control, leading his team on four scoring drives that helped the defending champions to a 35-13 lead heading into the third quarter.
The Colts refused to go away and got on the board on a third Moore to McKenzie hookup to close out the scoring for the 35-21 final.
For the game, Dukes was named the MVP after rushing for a game-high 93 yards and completing 14 of 21 passes for 244 yards and a career-high 4 TD passes.
“He has really come on strong and grown up as a leader,” commented Dunbar head coach Maurice “Bink” Vaughn of his senior signal caller. “I’m so happy for him. He has been a major part of the success of this program the past two years. I am going to miss this young man.”
The Colts could be back in the hunt next year as they return their sophomore signal caller, Moore, who threw for a career-high 238 yards and three touchdowns, and sophomore linebacker John Lafontant, who led all tacklers with 16 and a sack. The duo forms the nucleus of a young team on the rise.
Next Up: DCSAA State Championship
Once upon a time, the Turkey Bowl signaled the end of the season, but there is yet another prize: the now coveted District of Columbia State Athletic Association (DCSAA) championship. The DCSAA championship game features the same two teams from last year: Dunbar and Friendship Collegiate (8-3).
The game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 7 at Howard University’s Greene Stadium and kicks off at 3:30 pm.
In last year’s game, it was the Friendship Collegiate Knights who came away with the 35-13 victory for their second straight title and fourth in the last five years. It will be the 13th-ranked Crimson Tide’s third appearance since 2019.
“We want to do something that no one at Dunbar has ever done and that’s win a state championship,” proclaimed Vaughn of his team’s motivation.
Friendship Collegiate is looking to capture its third straight DCSAA title and fourth in the past five years. The Knights advance to the game following a hard-fought, 18-10 semifinal win over Eastern on Nov. 30.
Two of Friendship Collegiate’s losses came from two teams ranked in the Top 10.
“This has been a challenging season for us,” noted Friendship Collegiate head coach Mike Hunter, in his 10th season at the helm. “We lost a number of key seniors that we depended on, and we had to deal with complacency with winning back-to-back titles.”
Hunter also weighed in on the competition.
“Coach Vaughn has done a great job of building a championship-level program at Dunbar,” he said. “We have played them several times over the past few years and the games have all been competitive and exciting. We look for the same on Saturday.”
