Tucker’s Taurean Taylor scores the first of his three touchdowns against Martin Luther King Jr. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The No. 1 ranked Tucker Tigers and the Stephenson Jaguars both picked up Region 4-6A victories on Friday night at Adams Stadium to remain in a tie for first place in the region.
Tucker (4-1, 2-0) caused 14 negative plays by the Martin Luther King Jr. Lions (2-3, 1-1) offense and limited the Lions to just two yards of total offense on the way to convincing 44-0 victory in a matchup of two teams part of a three-way tie in the Region 4-6A standings.
A partially blocked punt by the Tigers set up a quick score after taking over at the Lions’ three-yard line. It took Taurean Taylor just one play to score the only touchdown the Tigers’ offense would need with 9:36 to play in the first quarter. Travon Ford connected with Jalen Jefferson on a two-point pass to make it 8-0.
The lead increased to 15-0 with 24.7 seconds to play in the opening period as Ford connected with Joshua Vann on a 26-yard screen pass play. Kyle Wright added the extra point.
Tucker stopped the Lions cold on a fourth and one at the King 21-yard line on a big defensive play by Michael Harris. It took just one play to capitalize as Taylor put up his second touchdown of the half scoring from 21 yards. Wright added extra point for a 22-0 lead with 7:03 to play in the half.
M.L. King’s Antonio Fletcher prevented the Tigers from extended the lead with a pair of interceptions in the final 2:59 of the half. The first came in the end zone after the Tigers drove to the Lions’ 13-yard line. The second came at the Lions’ three-yard line with 6.4 seconds as Fletcher battled the receiver for the ball and came away with the interception falling to ground at the three.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Antonio Fletcher (14 in white jersey) makes the second of his two interceptions against Tucker. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The Tigers extended the lead to 31-0 to open the second half with a 35-yard run by Taylor, his third touchdown of the game, on the opening drive and then Jalen Jefferson tackled Lions’ quarterback Jacobi Haynes in the end zone for a safety.
A crossing pattern pass from Ford to Vann went for 34-yards and a score as Vann battled through a pair of defenders into the end zone to make it 37-0 heading into the fourth quarter.
David Davis would score on a one-yard run with 6:51 to play to round out the scoring for the 44-0 final.
Stephenson 38, Mundy’s Mill 14
The Stephenson Jaguars kept pace with Tucker in the Region 4-6A standings exploding for 26 second half points to defeat Mundy’s Mill 38-14 on homecoming at Hallford Stadium on Friday night.
The Jaguars went up 12-0 in the first half on Deondre Jackson’s four-yard touchdown run with 2:14 to play in the second quarter, but were only leading 12-8 at the half as Mundy’s Mill’s Nick Mason scored with one second left in the half.
Stephenson scored twice in 27 seconds in the second half extending the lead on a Darren Parker quarterback sneak and a 45-yard, pick-six by Javier Morton to make it a 24-8 game with 8:54 left in the third quarter.
Mundy’s Mill scored to pull within 24-14, but on the ensuing kickoff Stephenson’s Ira Henderson went 85-yards for the touchdown as the lead went to 31-14. Stephenson (3-2, 2-0) would score a fourth quarter touchdown for the final of 38-14 to give the Jaguars their third consecutive victory.
Cedar Grove 41, Westminster 10
Xavier Dennis connected with Jadon Haselwood on two touchdown passes to help lead the No. 1 ranked Cedar Grove Saints to a 41-10 Region 5-3A victory over Westminster at Godfrey Stadium on Friday night.
Dennis hit on 10 of 12 passes for 162 yards while Haselwood had four catches for 80 yards in the game.
The undefeated Saints (5-0, 2-0) got touchdown runs from Deante Maxwell, Devyn Smith and Demetrius Tharpe to help run their consecutive wins streak to 15-0 dating back to last year’s loss to the same Westminster team.
Rashad Chaney added a one-yard interception return for a touchdown on defense to go with 14 tackles and an interception by Isaiah Ratliff.
DCSD FOOTBALL WEEK 6 SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 22
Columbia (3-2) 65, Clarkston* (0-6) 0
McNair* (3-2) 31, Stone Mountain (1-4) 6
Marist (5-0) 58, Chamblee (1-4) 0
North Clayton (2-3) 12, Druid Hills (1-4) 0
Chattahoochee (4-1) 30, Dunwoody (2-2) 14
Meadowcreek (5-0) 42, Lakeside (1-4) 28
Tucker* (4-1) 44, M.L. King (2-3) 0
Pace Academy (2-2) 35, Redan (1-4) 12
Lovett (2-3) 42, Towers (2-3) 8
Cedar Grove (5-0) 41, Westminster (1-4) 10
Stephenson (3-2) 38, Mundy’s Mill (0-5) 14
Saturday, Sept. 23
East Coweta (4-1) 48, Arabia Mountain (3-2) 14
Westlake (2-4) 38, Lithonia (1-4) 12
SW DeKalb (3-2) 42, Rockdale Co. (1-3) 25
Open: Cross Keys (0-1), Miller Grove (3-2)
*-Homecoming