Robert Jones III rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown and the Cedar Grove Saints defense shut down Summerville (SC) for 47 minutes on the way to a convincing 21-7 road win in South Carolina on Saturday.

Jones contributed that 101 yards rushing to a 226 total for the Saints on the night and gave Cedar Grove a 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a 20-yard run in a drive he had runs of 14 and 45 yards to move Cedar Grove (1-0) down the field.

Kendall Boney’s nine-yard touchdown run helped send the Class 3A No. 2 ranked Saints into the half up 14-0 over their South Carolina Class 5A opponent.

The Saints would put the game away with four minutes remaining as Austin Smith connected with Jadon Haselwood on a 12-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-0.

Summerville would put together a scoring drive in the final minutes getting into the end zone with just under a minute to play on a 27-yard pass from Johnathan Bennett to Andre Banks for the final of 21-7.

Cedar Grove (1-0) makes its second consecutive foray out of state on Saturday with an ESPN televised matchup in Hoover, Alabama against Hewitt-Trussville (AL).

Arabia Mountain 28, Carver-Atlanta 14
The two-time defending Region 5-5A champions Arabia Mountain Rams knocked off Carver-Atlanta 28-14 at Hallford Stadium on Friday night to get the 2018 season off to a great start.

The Rams (1-0) jumped out quickly 14-0 as Bryson Williams threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first quarter. The first was a 27-yard toss over the middle to Matthew Crawford and followed with a 52-yard pass down the right hash to Kenyon Webb.

Carver (0-1) jumped right back into the game by tying it at 14-14 heading into the half as a late Rams’ drive ended inside the Carver 20.

Amir Muhammad put the Rams ahead for good with a two-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. The Rams added another score for the final of 28-14 as the defense held Carver scoreless in the second half.

Buford 40, Tucker 14
Class 5A No. 2 ranked Buford used 19 consecutive points in the second half to pull away to a 40-14 win over the Class 6A No. 3 ranked Tucker Tigers in Corky Kell action at Georgia State on Friday night.

Buford was leading 7-0 early when Tucker’s Tyler Hughey broke lose on a 76-yard touchdown run to tie the game. Buford came back to take a 14-7 lead at the half.

The Wolves (1-0) were up 21-7 when Tucker quarterback Travon Ford and receiver Isaiah Dunson hooked up for a 69-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 21-14 with 7:41 left in the third quarter.

Buford would then score the 19 points to put the game away.

In other football action in DeKalb on Friday Lakeside and Lithonia both rallied for wins to open the season 1-0. Lakeside came back for a thrilling 21-20 win over Decatur at Adams Stadium while Lithonia rallied from an 18-17 deficit at the end of the quarter to win 26-24 over Forest Park at North DeKalb Stadium.

Stephenson (1-0) rolled past Columbia (0-1) 39-12 to win the season opening matchup between the two DeKalb schools at Hallford Stadium. The opener at Hallford last Friday went to Druid Hills (1-0) in a 28-7 victory over Clarkston (0-1).

Southwest DeKalb was the other winner for DeKalb on Friday taking an 18-0 road win over Woodland of Stockbridge.

In other road games on Friday three other DeKalb teams came up short of victory as Chamblee fell 42-7 to Forsyth Central, Cross Keys lost 49-12 to Providence Christian and Stone Mountain dropped a 44-6 decision to Pickens County.

DCSD WEEK 1 FOOTBALL RESULTS
Friday, Aug. 17
ADAMS STADIUM
Lakeside (1-0) 21, Decatur (0-1) 20

AVONDALE STADIUM
Stephenson (1-0) 39, Columbia (0-1) 12

GODFREY STADIUM
McNair (1-0) 20, Towers (0-1) 0
Miller Grove (1-0) 18, Redan (0-1) 12

HALLFORD STADIUM
Druid Hills (1-0) 28, Clarkston (0-1) 7
Arabia Mountain (1-0) 28, Carver-Atl (0-1) 14

NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Lithonia (1-0) 26, Forest Park (0-1) 24

AWAY/NEUTRAL SITE GAMES
Buford (1-0) 40, Tucker (0-1) 14
Forsyth Central (1-0) 42, Chamblee (0-1) 7
Providence Christian (1-0) 49, Cross Keys (0-1) 12
SW DeKalb (1-0) 18, Woodland-Stockbridge (0-1) 0
Pickens County (1-0) 44, Stone Mountain (0-1) 6

Saturday, Aug. 18
AWAY/NEUTRAL SITE GAMES
Cedar Grove (1-0) 21, Summerville SC (0-1) 7

OPEN: Dunwoody (0-0), M.L. King (0-0)