The No. 9 ranked Tucker Tigers entertaining the Lovejoy Wildcats on Friday night at 7:30 at Adams Stadium in a clash of high school football Region 4-6A co-leaders with the winner taking a big step towards a home playoff game.

Tucker (3-2, 3-0) is coming off a 42-12 win over Drew last Friday and enters the game 5-0 all-time against the Wildcats (3-2, 3-0) who won a 34-27 region matchup with Morrow last weekend.

Lovejoy and Tucker met for the first time in the 2011 Class 4A state championship game won 22-7 by the Tigers as they captured their second state title. Tucker has won all four regular season games including a 36-7 victory in 2017.

In its region wins against Mundy’s Mill (36-35 OT), Forest Park (55-12) and Drew (42-12) is allowing just 20.7 points a contest. The Wildcats have allowed 31 points a game in their three wins over Mundy’s Mill (36-34), Drew (44-32) and Morrow (34-27). The closest game in the series was a 29-26 victory by Tucker at Adams Stadium in 2016.

The Tucker offense is led by a trio of running backs in David Davis, Tyler Hughey and Donnie Harris who have all contributed to the Tigers’ strong rushing attack this season. The defense is led by senior linebackers Lucius Chitty and Chris Whitaker and senior defensive end Derrick McClendon.

In other Region 4-6A action, the Stephenson Jaguars (3-1, 2-0) host the Martin Luther King Jr. Lions (1-3, 1-1) at 8:00 pm at Hallford Stadium on Friday.

The Jaguars lead the series 7-4 and won the 2017 meeting 26-0. Stephenson is looking to hold serve in the region with a win to go 3-0 while the Lions are wanting to stay in playoff contention.

Region 5-5A
The DeKalb County Region 5-5A football teams start their region play this week with three games on tap.

The first game to get underway will be a 7:30 pm matchup at Avondale between the Arabia Mountain Rams (2-3) and the Miller Grove Wolverines (1-3) in just the fifth meeting between the two schools just a few miles apart.

Arabia Mountain owns a 3-1 record in the series having won the last three games including a 36-28 thriller in 2017. Miller Grove won the first meeting during the 2012 season.

The Rams are the two-time defending Region 5-5A champs and are looking to get off to a good start after coming off a bye-week. The Rams are led on defense by senior defensive end Thomas Douglass who has 2.5 sacks and 4 tackles for a loss on the season.

Offensively, the Rams are led by senior quarterback Bryson Williams who has passed for 801 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 106 yards and another score this season.

The other Friday night game involving Region 5-5A teams has the No. 10 ranked Southwest DeKalb Panthers (5-0) hosting the Chamblee Bulldogs (0-5) in the second game of a doubleheader at Godfrey Stadium set for 8:00 pm.

Southwest DeKalb leads the series 12-2 having won 11 consecutive games since back-to-back wins by Chamblee in the 1952 season as the teams meet for the seventh time in 11 seasons.

The Panthers are led by running backs Eian Scott (453 yards) and Jamel Starks (227 yards) with five touchdowns each. Southwest DeKalb’s defense has allowed just 161.6 total yards and 7.4 points per game on their way to a 5-0 record. Senior linebacker Derico Smith leads the smothering defense with 47 tackles, 2 sacks and 5 tackles for a loss while senior defensive back Jamel Starks has 29 tackles, 1 sack, 9 tackles for a loss, 3 caused fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.

Chamblee’s defense is led by junior linebacker Darius Williams with 18 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for a loss and 2 fumbles caused.

The third game is set for 7:30 Saturday night at Hallford Stadium as the Lithonia Bulldogs (3-2) host the Columbia Eagles (1-4) in the 19th meeting of the two DeKalb schools.

Columbia won the 2017 game 26-7 and leads the series 13-5 over the Bulldogs. Lithonia won the 2016 game 21-7. Lithonia head coach David Edwards is coaching his seventh game in the series and second at Lithonia and holds a 4-2 record (4-1 at Columbia).

DCSD FOOTBALL WEEK 6 SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 28
ADAMS STADIUM
Lovejoy (3-2) vs. Tucker (3-2)* (HC), 7:30 pm

AVONDALE STADIUM
Arabia Mountain (2-3) vs. Miller Grove (1-3)*, 7:30 PM

GODFREY STADIUM
Cedar Grove (4-1) vs. Redan (0-5)*, 5:15 pm
Chamblee (0-5) vs. SW DeKalb (5-0)*, 8:00 pm

HALLFORD STADIUM
Pace Academy (3-2) vs. Stone Mountain (0-4)*, 5:15 pm
M.L. King (1-3) vs. Stephenson (3-1)*, 8:00 pm

NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Pataula Charter (0-5) vs. Cross Keys (0-6) (HC), 5:15 pm
Woodward (2-2) vs. Druid Hills (2-2)*, 8:00 pm

AWAY
Dunwoody* (1-4) at Pope (), 7:30 pm
Lakeside* (1-4) at Central Gwinnett (1-4), 7:30 pm
Towers* (0-5) at Lovett (1-4), 7:30 pm

Saturday, Sept. 29
HALLFORD STADIUM
Columbia (1-4) vs. Lithonia (3-2)*, 7:30 pm

AWAY
McNair* (2-3) vs. Washington (4-2), Lakewood, 6:00 pm

OPEN: Clarkston (0-6)

*–Region Game
(HC) – Homecoming
(SN) – Senior Night