Arabia Mountain quarterback Bryson Williams (with ball) leads the Rams into a Class 5A first round battle against North Springs on Friday night at Hallford Stadium. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Arabia Mountain (Class 5A), Cedar Grove (Class 3A), and Tucker (Class 6A) all earned the No. 1 seeds coming out of their respective regions heading into Friday’s first round of the high school football state playoffs.
Coach Stan Pritchett’s Arabia Mountain Rams (8-2, 5-0) ran through Region 5-5A undefeated with five consecutive wins to end the regular season, including the season finale 27-21 victory over an improve Lithonia Bulldog club last Friday night at Godfrey Stadium.
Quarterback Bryson Williams (second in DeKalb in passing) leads the Rams offense against North Springs (6-4) on Friday night at Hallford Stadium with kickoff set for 7:30 pm. Arabia’s defense is led by defensive end Demetric Barnes and defensive lineman Rayton who both have 3.5 sacks and 4 tackles for a loss on the season.
North Springs is coming off a 37-0 win over Lithia Springs to end the regular season and finishing 3-4 in Region 6-5A. It is Arabia’s second state playoff appearance after advancing to the Sweet 16 last season before losing a tough 27-20 game to Griffin.
In other Class 5A state playoff action involving DCSD teams, Southwest DeKalb (7-3) hosts Banneker (8-2) on Saturday at 7:30 pm at Godfrey Stadium, Miller Grove (5-5) travels to face Jackson-Atlanta (8-2) at 7:00 pm with a location to be announced and Columbia also travels into Atlanta to face Carver (9-1) at 7:30 pm on Friday with the site to be announced.
Cedar Grove’s Jadon Haselwood (2) and the No. 1 ranked Saints play host to Adairsville in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs on Friday. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Cedar Grove vs. Adairsville
The No. 1 ranked and undefeated Cedar Grove Saints (10-0) enter the playoffs as the defending state champs riding a 20-game win streak. It is the fifth time in program history for the Saints to finish the season undefeated and the first time since 1991.
Quarterback Xavier Dennis leads the Saints offense with 1,095 yards passing on 81 of 119 passes with 18 touchdowns and just two touchdowns. He also has over 200 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns. His top offensive target is junior wideout Jadon Haselwood who has 33 receptions for 444 yards and 10 touchdowns. Darrell Neal has over 1,000 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns.
The defense is led by senior defensive end Roderic Forts with 17.5 tackles for a loss and 8.5 sacks on the season as well as sophomore linebacker Isaiah Ratliff with 17.5 tackles for a loss and 3 sacks on the season.
The Saints host Adairsville (6-4), the No. 4 seed from Region 6-3A on Friday at Godfrey Stadium with kickoff set for 7:30 pm. Adairsville is riding a two-game win streak with wins of 32-0 over Haralson County and 34-21 over Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe.
Tucker’s Taurean Taylor is closing in on a second consecutive 1,000 yard rushing season as the Tigers host Lakesie-Evans in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs on Friday. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Tucker vs. Lakeside-Evans
The No. 1 ranked Tucker Tigers (9-1) are riding an eight-game win streak and a 7-0 run through the Region 4-6A schedule as they head into the host role against Lakeside-Evans (2-8) on Friday night at 7:30 pm in Adams Stadium.
Tucker shutout Stephenson 38-0 for the region title last week in a second consecutive shutout and fourth overall on the season. Senior linebackers Mike Harris (44 tackles, 8 for loss) and Malik Ransom (37 tackles, 7 for loss) are playing a big role in shutting down opponents along with senior defensive end Antonio Showers (37 tackles, 13 sacks).
The offense which is averaging over 40 points per game behind the trio of quarterback Travon Ford, receiver Joshua Vann and running back Taurean Taylor. Ford has hit on 75 of 115 passes for 1,222 yards and 16 touchdowns as he triggers the offense. Vann had 44 receptions for 820 yards and 13 touchdowns and Taylor has rushed for 936 yards and 13 touchdowns.
The No. 8 ranked Stephenson Jaguars (7-3) are the No. 2 seed out of Region 4-6A and play host to Heritage-Conyers (6-4) at 7:30 pm at Avondale Stadium on Friday.
2017 DCSD FOOTBALL STATE PLAYOFFS
Friday, Nov. 10
Class 6A
Lakeside-Evans (2-8) vs. Tucker (9-1), Adams, 7:30 pm
Heritage-Conyers (7-3) vs. Stephenson (7-3), Avondale, 7:30 pm
Class 5A
North Springs (6-4) vs. Arabia Mountain (8-2), Hallford, 7:30 pm
Columbia (5-5) vs. Carver-Atl (9-1), Grady, 7:30 pm
Class 3A
Adairsville (6-4) vs. Cedar Grove (10-0), Godfrey, 7:30 pm
Saturday, Nov. 11
Class 5A
Miller Grove (5-5) vs. Jackson-Atl (8-2), Grady, 7:30 pm
Banneker (8-2) vs. SW DeKalb (7-3), Godfrey, 7:30 pm