And the Knights had an immediate answer: a 17-yard touchdown pass to Dunbar transfer Mike Brown. The score had just the effect the No. 11 Knights were hoping for. Building off that momentum-turning play, running back Damarjae Jones found an opening in the fourth quarter for a 70-yard run to secure a 19-6 win.

“The first half, I looked at my team, and all our heads were down, so we had to pick up the energy,” Brown said. “Then at the rain delay, we had a little talk. … We said we had to turn it up. Then we came out and succeeded.”

Despite the Knights finding their stride on the road, Coach Mike Hunter had tough words for his team after the game. Forced to slog through several costly penalties in the first half — and star edge rusher Dylan Stewart’s ejection after a post-whistle fight — the Knights’ celebration was muted as Hunter stressed the extensive work ahead of them to attempt a D.C. State Athletic Association Class AA title repeat.

“You open up the season with a quality opponent like Dunbar, emotions are going to be high,” Hunter said. “We got to do a better job of controlling our emotions. You’re going to make some physical mistakes, maybe some dropped balls and stuff like that, but you got to eliminate those mental mistakes. So hopefully that was just first game jitters and then we move on and do better.”

In the loss, the Crimson Tide displayed a tenacious defense that mostly shut down Friendship early on. Led by new starting quarterback Brosnan Dukes, it showcased a slippery ability to escape tackles and grind out extra yards.

But it wasn’t enough to overcome one of D.C.’s best teams, which entered this year looking even stronger than last season.

“After the rain delay, we came out all ready to play,” Friendship running back Donte West said. “We were just on after that.”