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Wilson's 41-0 rout
Spingarn fails to score in team's first outing
(Published October 6, 2003)

By DAVID STEINBACHER
Special to The Common Denominator

The powerful Woodrow Wilson Tigers scored early and often on Oct. 3, turning back the Spingarn Green Wave 41-0.

The game was the season’s first for Spingarn, which was forced to forfeit its first two scheduled outings for failing to field enough players to meet the league’s team regulations.

Wilson improved to 3-1 overall. Spingarn dropped to 0-3.

The Tigers, coached by Horace Fleming in his 23rd season, wasted little time to score in the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association clash. The "kelly green and white" hit paydirt on their opening drive when senior quarterback Daniel Stover connected with senior wide receiver Salu Thomas for a 36-yard score down the sideline. Following senior placekicker David Rosenbaum’s point after touchdown (PAT), Wilson led 7-0 and never looked back.

"We had some first game jitters," said Spingarn Head Coach John "Peterbug" Matthews. "We haven’t even scrimmaged anyone this year other than ourselves."

Before the first quarter had elapsed, the Tigers led the Green Wave 20-0. Running backs Donald Ferrell and Jeremy Williams punched in 3-yard and 1-yard touchdown runs, respectively.

"The offensive line – center Bryan Bolden, guards Seth Teichler and Steven Afaro and tackles Maurice Brooks and Julius Lee – did a great job out there today," Williams said.

Stover, who ran the Wilson offense flawlessly early on, was replaced midway through the second quarter. Coach Fleming brought in 5-foot-4, 130-pound sophomore reserve quarterback Demitri Young to run the Tiger offense.

The smallest player, Young engineered six running plays to commence his high school football career.
On his seventh snap from scrimmage, Young threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Paul Fullmore, who made a diving reception.

"After Daniel came out, I was pretty confident," said Young, who completed all three of his passes for 50 total yards. "This was the first varsity game that I’ve ever played in. The game on the varsity level is definitely a lot faster and quicker than Pop Warner football. There is a lot of thinking that has to be done out there as a high school quarterback."

Wilson scored its fifth first-half touchdown when sophomore Ferrell punched it in from three yards out. In a high octane first half, Wilson took a commanding 34-0 lead into the locker room at intermission.

Spingarn with only 18 players on its roster – 13 of them either sophomores or freshmen – was outmanned by the Tigers. Wilson has 48 players on its roster, and a huge size advantage on both the offensive and defensive lines.

The fans that left at halftime missed the biggest fireworks of the game early in the third quarter.

Wilson’s David Rosenbaum took the second-half kickoff 79 yards down the right sideline to score, after eluding several would-be Spingarn tacklers. Wilson was hit with three separate infractions – including one for excessive celebration – after Rosenbaum crossed into the endzone.

With Wilson leading 40-0, the penalties forced the Tigers back to almost the 50-yard line for placekicker Rosenbaum’s point after touchdown attempt, rather than the usual spotting at the 3-yard line.

Rosenbaum, not only a football player but also a soccer player for the Tigers, booted through a 58-yard PAT to make the score 41-0 with 11:41 remaining in the third quarter. It is believed to be the longest successful kick in DCIAA history.

"In my 23 seasons I’ve never had a kicker as good as David Rosenbaum," said Coach Fleming. "He is simply outstanding."

Rosenbaum wasn’t yet finished. The senior booted the ensuing kickoff into the endzone. He returned to the sidelines nonchalantly and took off his jersey. The senior headed to the locker room, where he changed into his soccer uniform and departed the campus for a soccer contest.

Spingarn generated four second-half first downs and moved the ball in spurts, but it was too little too late. Spingarn junior quarterback Thomas Hughes made a valiant effort under the intense Wilson pass rush, but the Green Wave was simply outmanned throughout the game.

Spingarn senior running back Edward McNair and sophomore running back Michael Fields led the Green Wave offense with nearly 50 combined yards on the ground, but Spingarn did not advance into
Wilson territory until the fourth quarter.

On fourth and eight from the Wilson 23 yard line, midway through the fourth quarter, Hughes’ pass into the endzone fell incomplete. On the Green Wave’s final play of the contest, Hughes’ pass into the endzone, from the Wilson 22 yard line, also fell incomplete.

"We made a lot of mental mistakes out there today. We just weren’t as ready as we should have been," Hughes said. "We’re going to really have to step things up in practice."

McNair said he "ran hard" but called the contest "a tough game."

"We need to play hard in our next game," he said. Spingarn hosts Anacostia on Oct. 10.

The Wilson defensive effort was spearheaded by: senior linebacker Curtis Lynch, junior defensive back Vinnicio Aguirre, senior safety Stefan Lockridge and senior defensive end Raymond Harris. The foursome combined to register 19 tackles.

"We had to ‘key the gaps’ correctly today,’ Lynch said. "This is a good team. To win the city title this year, we’re going to have to stay motivated and to keep our heads in all of our future games."

Despite the shutout, Coach Matthews expressed some optimism about how his team played.

"Under the adverse circumstances, we played pretty well in spurts," he said. "This is a totally new coaching staff and a totally new system. Our kids will get better."

Coach Fleming called the game "an indication that we are a good team."

"We had a tough loss last week to HD Woodson ... [so] I told the kids to go out and perform," he said. "It was not a case today of who our opponent was, but it was a case of us stepping up
and executing."

Wilson travels to Dunbar Oct. 10 in a key DCIAA West matchup. Wilson won the DCIAA championship in 1991. Following the 1997 and 2002 seasons, Wilson lost in the DCIAA playoff semi-finals.