Trailing 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, the Stephenson Jaguars rallied past DeKalb County rival Southwest DeKalb Panthers 28-15 in front of a lively crowd at Hallford Stadium on Friday night.

The Panthers (1-1), who broke a seven-game losing streak to the Jaguars with a 21-14 victory a year ago, jumped out in front 7-0 on Khoreem Miller’s 22-yard touchdown run with 1:58 left in the first quarter. Keun Neal added the extra point for the 7-0 advantage. The drive included big pass plays 15 and 17 yards from Rion White to Tommy Wright to set up the go-ahead touchdown.

Stephenson (2-0) answered following the kickoff driving 70 yards for the tying score. Texas A&M commit Deondre Jackson set up his own 4-yard touchdown run with a 43-yard scamper. Emmanuel Rios tacked on the tying extra point to make it 7-7 with 11:32 left in the first half.

A short punt on the Panthers’ next possession set the Jaguars up at the Southwest DeKalb 38. Jackson converted a third and four with a 31-yard trek to the Panthers’ one-yard line. He took it into the end zone on the next play to send the Jaguars into the half up 13-7.

Stephenson opened the second half with an 11-play, 56-yard drive that took 5:06 off the clock to extend the lead to 21-7 as Jackson scored his third touchdown of the night with a one-yard run. Jackson also ran in the two-point conversion.

Just over three minutes later the Jaguars made it 28-7 as quarterback Joseph Jackson passed over the middle to Trevon Ferrell for a 28-yard pass play for the touchdown. Rios tacked on the point after try with 3:34 left in the third quarter.

Miller spurred the Panthers to an answering touchdown with a 32-yard run down to the Stephenson 37. Two plays later White and Wright connected again, this time for 34 yards, to pull the Panthers closer with 1:44 to play in the third quarter. White hit Robert Grady for the two-point conversion to make the score 28-15.

The Jaguars ended a late Panthers’ threat with 7:17 to play as Javier Morton intercepted a pass at the goal line and raced 100 yards for an apparent touchdown which was called back due to a block in the back. Stephenson ran six minutes off the clock to help seal the win.

Jackson finished with 137 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries to lead the Jaguars. Rion White was 14 of 32 for 194 yards and a touchdown to lead the Panthers.

Lithonia 42, Redan 0
Quarterback Savion Lawson threw for 150 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Lithonia Bulldogs to a 42-0 victory over neighborhood rivals Redan Raiders in the opening game at Hallford Stadium on Friday night.

The first score was a six-yard pass to Khalil Roach, who had four of the touchdown receptions, with 9:09 left in the first quarter. The second came with 5:37 left in the first half as he hit Deshon Wilhite over the middle on a 37-yard pass play to send the Bulldogs into the half up 14-0. Juan Espinosa hit both extra points.

Lawson would connect with Roach (4 receptions, 86 yards) three times in the second half on pass plays of 13, 14 and 53 yards and D’vonte Slaton (16 rushes, 100 yards) added an eight-run touchdown.

The Bulldogs’ defense was dominating with 25 plays behind the line of scrimmage for 87 yards in losses against the Raiders.

St. Pius X 10, Dunwoody 8
Being a 40-point underdog according to the Maxwell Computer Rankings was not a deterrent to the Dunwoody Wildcats as they gave the No. 8 St. Pius X Golden Lions all they wanted before falling 10-8 on a late field goal.

The Wildcat defense played stout throughout the game as Dunwoody (0-1) trailed 7-0 at the half and heading into the fourth quarter.

Dunwoody got on the scoreboard with 5:31 to play as Davis Ledoyen connected with Tyler Eith on a touchdown pass to pull the Wildcats within 7-6. Eith, who had 13 catches for 104 yards, hauled in a two-point conversion pass from Jaxon Warshaw to put Dunwoody up 8-6.

St. Pius had not picked up a first down in the second half against the Wildcats’ defense, but put together a drive to the Dunwoody 17 before the Wildcats forced a 34-yard field goal. St. Pius connected on the field goal with 1:10 to play to pull out the win.

Dunwoody’s Isaac Anderson led the defense with 11 total tackles including 1 tackle for a loss, 1 interception and 1 fumble caused in the game. J. Norris Neel added 9 total tackles and Cevon Mitchell 8 more total tackles.

Central (Phenix, AL) 24, Cedar Grove 20
A late touchdown pass with 28 seconds to play helped Central to pull out a 24-20 victory over the Cedar Grove Saints a battle of 2018 state champions from Alabama and Georgia in the Cam Newton C1N Football Showcase at Lakewood Stadium on Saturday night.

The Saints jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first half on a pair of Austin Smith touchdown passes. Smith hit Janiran Bonner for a 26-yard pass into the endzone with 2:51 left in the first quarter. Smith came back with 9:44 left in the first half with a 44-yard pass play to Coreyon Cone down the middle of the field to make it 13-0.

Central (1-1) bounced back to take a 14-13 lead at the half and was up 17-13 heading into the third quarter. The Saints (1-1) regained the lead with 9:04 to play in the game as Chavon Wright bulled his way through several tackles on the way to a 19-yard touchdown run.

Stone Mountain 39, Social Circle 3
Coach James Lal picked up his first victory as head coach at Stone Mountain as his Pirates routed Social Circle 39-3 on Friday night.

The Pirates scored 27 second half points to pull away from a 12-3 advantage to put the game away. It was a big turnaround from a year ago as Social Circle shutout the Pirates 31-0.

Shahiem Bailey passed for 191 yards and 1 touchdown as he hit on 12 of 22 passes and also rushed for 94 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns to lead the Pirates (1-1). Mojo Towners had 13 carries fro 143 yards and 2 touchdowns and Donsay Brown had five catches for 93 yards and a touchdown.

The Pirate defense had 13 tackles for a loss in the game led by Ronel Thomas (10 total tackles) with 2 sacks and 4 tackles for a loss. Saquan  Bailey added three tackles for a loss to go with his 8 total tackles while Justin Jackson and Davion Kennedy also had two tackles for a loss.

M.L. King 26, Villa Rica 14
The Martin Luther King Jr. Lions flipped last season’s opening loss by knocking off Villa Rica 26-14 behind the play of quarterback Jacobi Haynes.

Haynes carried the football 19 times for 242 yards and 2 TDs and was 6 of 8 passing for 113 yards and another TD for the Lions (1-0). Michael Fearn added 25 carries for 100 yards and a TD. Dequan’dre Moore hauled in four receptions for 112 yards and 1 TD.

Linebacker Jomel Robinson compiled 10 total tackles to lead the Lions’ defeanse with help from Collin White and Antravious Slatter with 9 tackles a piece.

DCSD FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Week 2
Thursday, 8/29
South Atlanta 54, Druid Hills 0

Friday, 8/30
Adams Stadium
Berkmar (1-0) 53, Cross Keys (0-2) 6
Northview (1-0) 60, Lakeside (0-2) 0

Avondale Stadium
Columbia (1-1) 73, Towers (1-1) 0

Godfrey Stadium
Stockbridge (1-0) 21, Arabia Mountain (0-2) 0

Hallford Stadium
Lithonia (2-0) 42, Redan (1-1) 0
Stephenson (2-0) 28, SW DeKalb (1-1) 15

North DeKalb Stadium
St. Pius X (1-1) 10, Dunwoody (0-1) 8

Away Games
M.L. King (1-0) 26, Villa Rica (1-1) 14
Grayson (2-0) 37, Tucker (0-2) 14
North Springs (0-1) 38, Clarkston (0-2) 0
Decatur (2-0) 17, Miller Grove (0-1) 12
Stone Mountain (1-1) 39, Social Circle (0-1) 3

Saturday, 8/31
Central Phenix-AL (1-1) 24, Cedar Grove (1-1) 20

Open: McNair (0-1)