Roxborough Comback Falls Short Against Dobbins

Everything looked bright. The Roxborough Indians were trailing 20-0, when they scored late in the third quarter, seemingly crawling back to within striking distance. Then Indians’ coach Mike Stanley made a brilliant call in catching Dobbins napping, when Roxborough recovered an on-side kick.But the Indians turned the ball over and with it, any chance to playing in the Public League Class AAA playoffs.

Roxborough was in a nice position, with Ben Franklin and Boy’s Latin both losing. “But it’s the little things that added up and hurt this year,” Stanley said. “Whatever momentum we had had going [after the on-side kick], we lost it right there with the turnover. We had opportunities to win the game. I thought ourselves and Dobbins were fairly even teams. But penalties pulled us back, and a lot of little things beat us, which have been happening all year.”

The Indians have three more games before Thanksgiving, and can improve on their 4-4 overall mark. Stanley has liked the play of his sophomores, fullback Sharif Harper; offensive linemen Keenan Ervin, Anibal DeBrito and Kevin Fabian; and middle linebacker Sam Robinson.

“Those kids have gotten better and better the whole year,” the coach said. “Hopefully they’ll get a good test and we’ll see what happens.”