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Although they are coming off lopsided victories last week, the Charles H. Flowers and Eleanor Roosevelt high school football teams are keenly aware that their matchup is likely to be a close game, where little moments will have big implications.

The Jaguars (5-1) visit Roosevelt (6-0) at 2 p.m. Saturday in Greenbelt in the most competitive matchup on this week’s Prince George’s County football schedule.

Last week, Roosevelt cruised to a 48-6 victory against Laurel (2-4), whose two victories have come against the two remaining winless teams in the league, High Point and Oxon Hill (both 0-6). The Raiders also cruised two weeks ago, in a 33-0 win Sept. 24 over Oxon Hill despite being without quarterback/linebacker Shawn Petty, who was sidelined with a foot injury he suffered during the Wise game. The University of Maryland recruit has gradually returned to full strength, throwing for 193 yards against Parkdale two weeks ago and 151 yards against Laurel.

Roosevelt is without junior running back Wayne Cummings, who is sidelined until the postseason after having surgery on an injured right toe last Friday. Cummings ran for 163 yards and two touchdowns through the first three games of the season.

Flowers had little trouble in a 54-0 win against High Point last week, as the Jaguars bounced back from a hard-fought, 19-18 loss at Suitland. Flowers quarterback Johnathan Holland connected with Taylor on a 72-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter against Suitland that brought the Jaguars within a point. But their two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful, and they ran out of time on the game’s final drive.

“Those things tend to happen to us almost every year,” said Flowers’ coach Mike Mayo, whose team lost in overtime to Suitland in 2009 and 2010. “But I think the kids did a good job of putting that one behind them.”

Mayo and the Jaguars are treating the game almost like a must-win.

“The kids know they have to be ready for Roosevelt. I told them we can’t afford to lose any more games this year,” he said. “It looks like 8-2 might not be enough to get in [to the 4A South Region playoffs].”

On defense, Roosevelt coach Tom Green knows Petty will be key to slowing down Monte Taylor, a tight end for Flowers.

“Flowers is obviously very good again this year and they have that big tight end, so we need to have Shawn healthy enough to cover him,” he said.

And aside from the standard worries of football coaches — avoiding turnovers and penalties — Green also is hoping to catch a sluggish beginning from the Jaguars.

“Flowers has started slow against Bladensburg and Northwestern and we have to hope we can catch them in another slow start this weekend,” he said.

Elsewhere around the County 4A League

-Flowers owns narrow victories over Bladensburg and Northwestern, coming from behind to win both games. Fittingly, those two teams faced one another last Friday in a tight affair.

Northwestern (3-3) gained the upper hand early and withstood a late Mustangs’ rally for a 15-14 victory as Bladensburg quarterback Dequan Boatwright rushed for 219 yards on 21 carries, and then he and his teammates watched as the Mustangs missed on a 28-yard field goal attempt in the waning seconds of the game that would have elevated the Mustangs (3-3) to a two-point victory. Darius Victor ran for two touchdowns for Northwestern.

-Taivon Jacobs had a career day for Suitland (6-0) in the Rams’ 46-7 rout Friday of DuVal. The senior caught five passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. He also returned two interceptions for touchdowns, the second of which came on the final play of the game. Stanley Henry had a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for DuVal (4-2).

-Wise running back Uriah Bethea returned to limited action for the first time since suffering a high ankle sprain Sept. 17 against Roosevelt.

Bethea, who led Prince George’s County in rushing yards last year, carried twice for 42 yards as the Pumas (5-1) beat Oxon Hill on Friday, 45-0. Chase Powell had 170 yards rushing and four touchdowns and also returned a kickoff for a score.

-Bowie (3-3) broke a two-game losing skid with a 30-6 win Friday against Parkdale (1-5).

Nathan Wilson had a 4-yard touchdown run and Chase Stevens tossed a 3-yard scoring pass to Mike Giles in the second quarter. Jamil Gilbert had a 32-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, and Keonne Clayborne threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Murray later in the fourth quarter.

tblack@gazette.net