Stephenson’s Deondre Jackson (5) rushed for 150 yards and touchdown in Stephenson’s 13-7 Region title clinching win over the Tucker Tigers. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Stephenson and Southwest DeKalb completed the defense of their 2018 region titles with wins on Friday night.
The No. 10 ranked Jaguars (9-1, 7-1) ran for 273 yards on 60 carries on the way to controlling the football in a 13-7 Region 4-6A title clinching win over the Tucker Tigers (6-4, 6-2) at Hallford Stadium on Friday night.
Stephenson was led by Deondre Jackson with 30 carries for 150 yards and a touchdown and led 7-0 at the half and after three quarters. Ryan Ingram had 15 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Tommy Smith had 12 total tackles (5 tackles, 7 assists, 1 for loss) to lead the Jaguars’ defense that held the Tigers to a lone fourth quarter touchdown. It was the Jaguars 10 region title.
Stephenson plays host to Bradwell Institute (3-6) on Friday at 7:30 pm in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs at Hallford Stadium. Tucker must go on the road as the No. 3 seed to face Region 2 No. 2 seed Glynn Academy (5-4) at 7:30 pm on Friday.
The Martin Luther King Lions (7-3) make their first playoff appearance since the 2013 season as they go to Richmond Hill (6-3) as the No. 4 seed from Region 4-6A.
In other Class 6A notes, Dunwoody had a pair of players set single season marks in their 49-19 loss to Johns Creek last Friday night. Davis Ledoyen (381-237-17, 2,708 yds, 17 TDs) set the DeKalb single season mark for completions with 237 to break Martin Luther King’s Jonquel Dawson’s mark of 218 set in 2011.
Tyler Eith (86 receptions, 1,202 yds, 10 TDs) set a new DeKalb season record for receptions in a year with 86. It broke the mark of 79 held by Steve Davenport of Southwest DeKalb since 1984.
Southwest DeKalb’s Rion White threw for three touchdowns to lead the Panthers to region repeat with a 28-18 win over the Columbia Eagles. (Photo by Arielle Hayes)
Region 5-5A
The Southwest DeKalb Panthers (9-1, 5-0) got three touchdown passes from quarterback Rion White on the way to a 28-18 victory over the Columbia Eagles (4-6, 4-1) at Godfrey Stadium on Friday to claim their second consecutive Region 5-5A championship.
White connected with Khoreem Miller on an 18-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter as the Panthers took a 7-6 lead into the half on the Eagles.
Seoul Newton extended the lead to 14-6 in the third quarter with a one-yard run and White hit on a 28-yard pass play to Robert Grady to extend the lead to 21-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
Columbia closed the gap to 21-12 before White answered with a 42-yard completion to Aquil Muhammad to extend the lead to 28-12 with four minutes to play.
The Eagles pulled within 28-18 late in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
Southwest DeKalb opens the Class 5A state playoffs by hosting Region 7-5A No. 4 seed Hiram (5-5) on Friday at 7:30 pm with the site to be announced. Columbia also earns a host role on Friday against Kell (8-2) with the site to be announced.
The Lithonia Bulldogs (4-6, 3-2) scored 31 unanswered points on the way to a 37-7 win over the Arabia Mountain (2-8, 2-3) at Avondale Stadium on Friday to clinch the Region 5-5A No. 3 seed.
Lithonia trailed 6-7 early, but behind Amir Streeter’s rushing touchdown and touchdown pass to Khalil Roach (6 receptions, 78 yards) rolled to 31 consecutive points in the win. Demetrius Taylor added 101 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
Asmaar Hasan had a team-high 21 tackles (13 tackles, 8 assists) including 1 sack and a fumble recovery to lead the Bulldogs’ defense.
Lithonia goes on the road to Rome (8-2) on Friday at 7:30 pm in the opening round of the Class 5A state playoffs. Arabia Mountain travels to Carrollton (10-0) for their first-round matchup.
Cedar Grove’s Rashad Dubinon had a touchdown in the Saints’ 31-0 regular season ending victory over the Stone Mountain Pirates.
Class 3A
Langston White ran for two touchdowns for the No. 2 ranked Cedar Grove Saints (8-2, 6-0) in a 31-0 win over the Stone Mountain Pirates (3-7, 2-4) on Saturday at Godfrey Stadium.
Chavon Wright put the Saints on the board first with a nine-yard run in the first quarter. Justin Minitee made it 8-0 heading into the second quarter as he tacked on a run for the two-point conversion.
Rashad Dubinon ran in from five yards out for a second quarter touchdown and Louis Dominguez added the PAT to make it 15-0. White’s first touchdown came in the second quarter as he scored from 18-yard run.
Rodjel Caine hit a 28-yard field goal to give the Saints a 24-0 lead at the half. White added an eight-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Caine’s PAT made the final margin of 31-0.
Isaiah Ratcliff led the defensive shutout with 10 tackles and Alvin Williams had seven tackles including three sacks.
The Saints are set to host Fannin County (6-4) in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs with the date, time and site to be determined.
DCSD FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Friday, Nov. 8 – Week 12
ADAMS STADIUM
Brookwood (5-5) 54, Lakeside (0-10) 0
AVONDALE STADIUM
Lithonia (4-6) 37, Arabia Mountain (2-8) 7
GODFREY STADIUM
SW DeKalb (9-1) 28, Columbia (4-6) 18
HALLFORD STADIUM
Douglass (9-1) 53, Clarkston (0-10) 0
Stephenson (9-1) 13, Tucker (6-4) 7
NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Pataula Charter (3-7) 30, Cross Keys (0-10) 12
Chamblee (1-8) 14, Miller Grove (0-10) 13
AWAY GAMES
Johns Creek (9-1) 49, Dunwoody (3-7) 14
Morrow (6-4) 39, M.L. King (7-3) 13
Therrell (3-7) 48, McNair (0-10) 0
Saturday, Nov. 9
ADAMS STADIUM
McDonough (4-6) 21, Druid Hills (2-8) 19
AVONDALE STADIUM
Redan (4-6) 54, Towers (2-8) 20
GODFREY STADIUM
Cedar Grove (8-2) 31, Stone Mountain (3-7) 0