Stone Mountain’s exciting quarterback/defensive back Shaheim Bailey (with ball) leads the Pirates against the Decatur Bulldogs on Friday night at Adams Stadium. Bailey needs just 32 yards to become the first DCSD player to pass for over 2,000 yards and rush for over 2,000 in a career. (Photo by Mark Brock, 2019)
DeKalb County sends all 18 participating high school football teams into action this week highlighted by eight region games as teams begin their march to the state playoffs.
Two undefeated teams clash in Region 5-5A as the Stone Mountain Pirates (1-0) host the Decatur Bulldogs (1-0) at Adams Stadium on Friday at 7:30 pm.
Stone Mountain is coming off a very convincing 53-7 road win over North Springs on Friday night led by senior quarterback Shaheim Bailey’s big night.
Bailey accounted for eight touchdowns in the game as he rushed for 166 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns, passed for 252 yards and 4 touchdowns hitting on 12 of 17 pass attempts and had interception returns of 45 and 58 yards for touchdowns.
Junior receiver Saquan Bailey had five receptions for 126 yards and two touchdowns and senior Donsay Brown added four receptions for 75 yards and two touchdowns.
The Pirate defense was led by junior defensive lineman Ronel Thomas with 12 tackles (7 solo, 5 assists) with 4 sacks and 4 tackles for a loss, junior linebacker Joshua Jones (6 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL) and junior defensive back Keshun Turner (6 tackles, 1 sack, 3 TFL, 1 FC, 1 FR).
Bailey is one of 13 DeKalb quarterbacks to pass for over 2,000 yards (3,415 yards, 25 TDs) and rush for over 1,000 yards (1,968, 25 TDs) in his career. He could become the first to pass for over 2,000 yards and rush for over 2,000 yards with 32 yards rushing on Friday.
Decatur (1-0) is coming off a 22-7 win over Arabia Mountain (0-1) on Friday night at Godfrey Stadium.
No. 1 Cedar Grove vs. Carver-Atlanta
Cedar Grove’s Austin Smith (4) scored both touchdowns for the Saints in a huge 14=7 win over Class 7A No. 5 ranked Milton last week. Austin and the Saints host Carver in a Region 5-3A opener on Friday at Godfrey Stadium. (Photo by Mark Brock, 2019)
A Region 5-3A battle is set for Godfrey Stadium on Friday at 7:30 pm as the Class 3A No. 1 ranked Cedar Grove Saints (1-0) host the Carver-Atlanta Panthers (0-3).
The two-time defending state champions Saints are coming off a big 14-7 win over then Class 7A No. 5 ranked Milton in their season opener last Friday.
Cedar Grove senior quarterback Austin Smith (104 yards rushing, 2 TDs; 116 yards passing) scored both touchdowns, including a 12-yard run and dive to the pylon with 11:04 to play to give the Saints the lead. Antonio Taylor ran in the two-point conversion for the final of 14-7.
The Saints defense held Milton to 239 yards of offense and came up big twice in the final minutes to secure the win. Demarius Jackson (6 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 TFL) blew up the Milton offensive front on a fourth and short to stop one drive with three minutes to play and defensive back Kayin Lee (5 tackles) broke up a pass in the end zone on the final play of the game.
Carver last played two weeks ago in a 39-6 loss to Buford.
Other region matchups on Friday include Stephenson (1-0) vs. Arabia Mountain (0-1) at Hallford Stadium (7:30 pm) and Druid Hills (0-1) vs. Miller Grove (0-1) at Avondale Stadium (8:00 pm) in Region 6-4A and Dunwoody (0-1) at Archer (1-3) at 7:30 pm.
Non-Region games on Friday include Lakeside (0-1) vs. Redan (1-0) at Avondale (5:15 pm), Chamblee (0-0) at Georgia Force (4-1), Cross Keys (1-0) at Flint River Academy (3-0) and M.L. King Jr. (0-1) at Newnan (4-0).
Thursday Night Lights
Two DeKalb teams hit the road to play games on Thursday night this week. McNair (0-1) travels to Lakewood Stadium for a 7:00 pm Region 6-2A matchup with KIPP (1-1) and Tucker (1-0) travels to Class 7A No. 10 ranked Parkview (3-1) for a 7:30 pm non-region game.
Saturday Region Matchups
Two big region games are on tap for Saturday at Avondale and Hallford Stadiums.
Towers (0-0) opens its season in a Region 6-2A contest hosting Columbia (1-0, 1-0) which opened the season with a 24-6 6-2A win over Therrell last weekend.
Southwest DeKalb (0-1) and Lithonia (0-1) are both coming off non-region losses last week as they hook up in a Region 5-5A battle at Hallford Stadium at 7:30 pm. Southwest DeKalb fell behind 24-0 to Tucker before falling 29-12 while Lithonia dropped a tough defensive game against Class 4A No. 4 ranked Stephenson 25-0.
DCSD FOOTBALL SCHEDULE – WEEK 2
Thursday, Oct. 8
AWAY
McNair (0-1) vs. KIPP (1-1), Lakewood, 7 pm*
Tucker (1-0) at Parkview (3-1), 7:30 pm
Friday, Oct. 9
ADAMS STADIUM
Decatur (1-0) vs. Stone Mountain (1-0), 7:30 pm*
AVONDALE STADIUM
Lakeside (0-1) vs. Redan (1-0), 5:15 pm
Druid Hills (0-1) vs. Miller Grove (0-1) HC, 8:00 pm*
GODFREY STADIUM
Carver-Atl (0-3) vs. Cedar Grove (1-0), 7:30 pm*
HALLFORD STADIUM
Stephenson (1-0) vs. Arabia Mountain (0-1), 8:00 pm*
AWAY
Chamblee (0-0) at Georgia Force (4-1), Gary Pirkle Park, 7:30 pm
Cross Keys (1-0) at Flint River Academy (3-0), 7:30 pm
Dunwoody (0-1) vs. Archer (1-3), 7:30 pm*
M.L. King (0-1) at Newnan (4-0), 7:30 pm
Saturday, Oct. 10
AVONDALE STADIUM
Columbia (1-0) vs. Towers (0-0), 7:30 pm*
HALLFORD STADIUM
SW DeKalb (0-1) vs. Lithonia (0-1), 7:30 pm*
OPEN: NONE
*–Region Game