Columbia’s Geovanni Dyer hauls in a 64-yard touchdown pass against Druid Hills. (Photo by Mark Brock
Columbia extended its mastery over Druid Hills to 8-0 in the series with a 42-7 victory on Friday night in the opening game of a doubleheader at Buck Godfrey Stadium.
The Eagles improved to 2-0 with the victory piling up 457 yards of offense while holding the Red Devils (0-2) to just 176 on the night. Khalon Manuel was a bit force on offense with 175 yards and two touchdowns on just eight carries in the game.
Manuel opening the scoring with 3:56 left in the first quarter as he burst through the left side of the line and raced 90 yards for his first touchdown of the game.
Columbia extended the lead to 14-0 with 10 minutes left in the first half as Tremaine Callaway found Giovani Dyer down the right sideline for a 64-yard touchdown pass play. Callaway tacked on the two-point conversion via his feet.
The Red Devils responded with a 67-yard drive to pull within 14-7 on Tyrique Robinson’s one-yard touchdown run with 5:51 left in the first half. The big play on the drive was a diving, one-handed catch at the one by Clark Sheppard that gained 23 yards on a second and 15 play at the Columbia 24.
Callaway brought the Eagles right back down the field as his 42-yard scamper put Columbia deep in Druid Hills’ territory. Thaddeus Easley finished off the drive with a 10-yard run for the score with 1:02 left in the half for a 20-7 Columbia lead at the half.
The Eagles broke the game wide open with a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter on a Callaway to Dyer 11-yard scoring pass and a 24-yard touchdown run by Lavar Gardner Jr to go up 36-7.
Druid Hills’ Clark Sheppard makes a diving one-handed catch at the one-yard line to set up a touchdown. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Manuel finished the scoring with 3:06 to go in the game as he busted loose for a 39-yard touchdown run for the final of 42-7.
Callaway finished the night hitting on six of 11 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns while Sheppard collected five receptions for 77 yards and two scores.
Cedar Grove 37, SW DeKalb 7
The No. 3 Ranked Cedar Grove Saints played tenacious defense and used three short field opportunities to their advantage in rolling to a 37-7 victory over the Southwest DeKalb Panthers in the nightcap at Buck Godfrey Stadium on Friday night.
The two teams battled to a 0-0 tie at the end of the first quarter, but a nice 40-yard punt by Kortney Cox pinned the Panthers inside their own 15-yard line. The Saints defense forced three consecutive negative yardage plays to force the Panthers to punt from their own end zone.
Pressure by the Saints caused a short punt and Cedar Grove took over on the Southwest 20. Facing a third and six at the Panther 16, the Saints turned to running back Darrell Neal who threaded his way through the Panthers’ defense for 16 yards to put Cedar Grove up 6-0 with 9:39 left in the half.
Cedar Grove’s Darrell Neal (27) flies past SW DeKalb’s Jervon Mannery (9) and a Panther teammate. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The Saints stopped the Panthers short again on the next possession and took over on the Southwest 30. A facemask penalty on the drive set up quarterback Xavier Dennis’ five-yard touchdown run with 4:32 left in the half to make it a 12-0 Cedar Grove lead.
Jadon Haselwood’s 28-yard punt return to the Southwest 10 set up the Saints’ next score. After losing six yards on first down, Dennis dropped back and threw a wide receiver screen to Haselwood who cut across the defense and wound his way into the end zone to send Cedar Grove (2-0) into the half up 19-0.
Dennis extended the lead to 25-0 less than two minutes into the second half as Israel Spivey’s 55-yard run set up his four-yard touchdown run. The Saints extended the lead to 31-0 as Dennis threw four yards to Haselwood on a face pattern the leaping receiver hauled in the pass as he got his feet down inbounds for the score with 8:29 left in the third quarter.
The Panthers got on the board on a Justin Tomlin 11-yard scoring toss to Michael Pace with 10:57 to play in the game close the gap to 7-31.
Neal finished the scoring with a 21-yard touchdown with seven minutes to play to make the final of 37-7. Neal finished with 104 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries while Haselwood had a pair of touchdowns on three receptions in the game.
The Cedar Grove defense held Southwest DeKalb to just 76 yards of total offense.
Tucker 54, Lakeside 0
The No. 1 Ranked Tucker Tigers (Class 6A) picked up their 28th win in the series 51-game series with the Lakeside Vikings with a 54-0 victory at Adams Stadium on Friday night.
The most played series in DeKalb County now stands at 28-22-1 in favor of the Tigers (2-0) who have not lost to the Vikings (0-2) since 1996.
Other Friday Scores included Arabia Mountain (2-0) 33, Martin Luther King Jr. (0-2) 7, McNair (1-0) 41, Clarkston (0-2) 7, Decatur (1-1) 40, Chamblee (1-1) 7, and Mill Creek (2-0) 31, Stephenson (0-2) 13.
Three games were played in DeKalb on Friday night with Redan (1-1) defeating Lithonia (0-2) 18-9 for the Raiders’ first win of the season, Miller Grove pitching its second shutout of the season 39-0 over Stone Mountain and Banneker defeated Towers (1-1) 24-12.
DCSD WEEK 2 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Friday, Aug. 25
McNair (1-0) 41, Clarkston (0-2) 6
Columbia (2-0) 42, Druid Hills (0-2) 7
Tucker (2-0) 54, Lakeside (0-2) 0
Arabia Mountain (2-0) 33, M.L. King Jr. (0-2) 7
Decatur (1-1) 40, Chamblee (1-1) 7
Mill Creek (2-0) 31, Stephenson (0-2) 13
Cedar Grove (2-0) 37, SW DeKalb (1-1) 7
Saturday, Aug. 26
Redan (1-1) 18, Lithonia (0-2) 9
Miller Grove (2-0) 39, Stone Mountain (0-2) 0
Banneker 24, Towers (1-1) 12
Open: Cross Keys (0-0), Dunwoody (1-0)