Cedar Grove scored 27 unanswered second half points on the way to a 40-10 win over Pace Academy to clinch a third consecutive Region 5-3A championship on Friday night at Godfrey Stadium.

The Saints (7-2, 5-0) led 13-10 at the half allowing its first points defensively since September (outscored opponents 178-10 in October) before opening the second half by forcing Pace into a three and out.

A nine-yard punt by Pace gave the Saints the football at the Knights 30 and two plays later Chavon Wright got around the left corner and raced 25 yards untouched for the first of four touchdowns in the second half for the Saints. Luis Dominguez added the PAT to make it 20-10.

Two and a half minutes later Wright went 25 yards around the right side for his third touchdown of the night. Dominguez was again good on the PAT and the lead was 27-10 with 7:00 left in the third quarter.

The score remained 27-10 until the 8:05 mark of the fourth quarter when quarterback Austin Smith hit receiver Coreyon Cone on a slant for 10 yards and a touchdown. A bad snap caused a hurried two-point conversion pass that went incomplete to have the score remain 33-10.

The Saints had the Knights backed up in the shadow of the goal post two minutes later when a fumbled snap was recovered by the Saints’ N’korian Newsome in the end zone for the Saints second defensive score of the game. Dominguez tacked on the PAT for the final of 40-10.

Cedar Grove opened the game with an 80-yard drive keyed by a 45-yard pass from Smith to Cone. The drive ended with a 10-yard TD run by Wright. Rodjel Caine hit the PAT for the 7-0 lead with 8:56 left in the first quarter.

The Knights knotted the game at 7 behind a 73-yard pass play from Quantraves Gaskins to Jordan Sloan.

Cedar Grove took the lead for good when a tipped option pitch by Pace was grabbed in the air by Jordan Grier who outran everyone 70 yards for the go ahead score. A two-point attempt was no good.

Pace (4-4, 2-3) made the halftime score 13-10 with a 29-yard field goal by Pearson Bates.

Chavon Wright finished the night with 180 yards rushing and three TDs on 20 carries to lead the Saints offense. Coreyon Cone had six receptions for 91 yards and a TD. The defense was led by senior linebacker Isaiah Ratcliff with 11 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 forced fumble. Alvin Williams had eight tackles including five sacks.

Godfrey Stadium served as the host of a Region 5-3A doubleheader as the Stone Mountain Pirates (3-5, 2-2) rolled past the Towers Titans (2-5, 0-4) 49-0 in the opening game of the night.

Junior quarterback Shaheim Bailey scored three first half touchdowns and threw for another as the Pirates jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead.

Bailey had a two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and Josue Ndeko added the PAT for a 7-0 lead just one minute 10 seconds into the game.

The score remained 7-0 heading into the second quarter before Bailey struck again with another two-yard TD run and Ndeko pushed the lead out to 14-0 with the PAT.

Bailey would get loose for a 23-yard touchdown run following a Jakoleby Bryant interception and with 17 seconds to play in the first half connected with Donsay Brown for a 30-yard TD pass. Aung Kun hit both the extra point kicks to make it 28-0 at the half.

The duo made it 35-0 in the third quarter as they connected for a 14-yard score and Ndeko added the PAT.

Mojo Townes added a one-yard TD run in the fourth quarter and Bailey scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a 22-yard run. Kun and Ndeko both hit one of the PATs to make it 49-0 final.

Bailey finished with 125-yards rushing and four TDs on 18 carries and was 13 of 22 passing for 173 yards and two TDs. Brown finished with 82 yards and two touchdowns on six receptions.

Stephenson 52, Charles Drew 0
The Stephenson Jaguars rushed for 355 yards and eight touchdowns as they ran over Charles Drew 52-0 in a Region 4-6A game at Hallford Stadium on Saturday night.

Senior Ryan Ingram led the way with 162 yards and three touchdowns on just 10 carries as the Jaguars (7-1, 5-1) averaged 12.7 yards per carry in the game.

Marvin Entro-Robinson had 83 yards rushing and three touchdowns on eight carries and Quashaun Johnson contributed two touchdowns with 43 yards rushing on three carries.

The Jaguars kept on a collision course with the Tucker Tigers (5-3, 5-1) who rallied from a 13-10 halftime deficit to the Martin Luther King Jr. Lions (6-2, 4-2) to win 23-13 on Friday night at Hallford Stadium. The two co-leaders are set for a regular season ending meeting which could decide the Region 4-6A title.

Southwest DeKalb 34, Lithonia 14
The Southwest DeKalb Panthers stayed atop the Region 5-5A standings by pulling away from a 14-7 halftime lead to defeat rival Lithonia 34-14 at Avondale Stadium on Friday night.

Four Lithonia turnovers proved costly as the Panthers (7-1, 3-0) led by Khoreem Miller’s 92 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 10 carries put distance between them and the Bulldogs (2-6, 1-2).

Mekhi Gilstrap and Aquil Muhammad both had touchdown runs in the game for the Panthers while Robert Grady caught a touchdown pass from Rion White.

Savion Lawson rushed for a touchdown and threw another to Deshonn Wilhite to lead Lithonia.

The Columbia Eagles (3-5, 3-0) remained undefeated in Region 5-5A and tied with Southwest DeKalb atop the standings with a 28-0 win over the Miller Grove Wolverines (0-8, 0-3) on Saturday night at Avondale Stadium.

Arabia Mountain (2-6, 2-1) clinched a state playoff berth as the Rams knocked off Chamblee (0-7, 0-3) 34-22 on Saturday night at Godfrey Stadium.

DCSD FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Friday, Oct. 25 – Week 10
ADAMS STADIUM
Eastside (5-3) 42, Druid Hills (2-6) 0

AVONDALE STADIUM
SW DeKalb (7-1) 34, Lithonia (2-6) 14

GODFREY STADIUM
Stone Mountain (3-5) 49, Towers (2-6) 0
Cedar Grove (7-2) 40, Pace Academy (4-4) 10

HALLFORD STADIUM
Forest Park (2-6) 39, Clarkston (0-8) 12
Tucker (5-3) 23, M.L. King (6-2) 13

NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
North Atlanta (5-2) 49, Dunwoody (3-5) 21

AWAY GAMES
Glascock Co. (2-7) 45, Cross Keys (0-9) 12
BEST Academy (3-5) 58, McNair (0-8) 0
Westminster (4-4) 45, Redan (3-5) 6

Saturday, Oct. 26
AVONDALE STADIUM
Columbia (3-5) 28, Miller Grove (0-8) 0

GODFREY STADIUM
Arabia Mountain (2-6) 34, Chamblee (0-7) 22

HALLFORD STADIUM
Stephenson (7-1) 52, Drew (1-7) 0

Open: Lakeside (0-8)