The Cedar Grove Saints joined seven other DeKalb County football programs with big wins during Week 10 as they took control of the Region 5-3A standings with a dominating 31-7 victory over the No. 7 ranked Sandy Creek Patriots on Friday night at Hallford Stadium.

Cedar Grove (4-5, 2-0) forced Sandy Creek ( 6-3, 1-1) to turn the ball over on downs on the first possession of the game and then took just three plays to take the lead.

Bo Walker got the first explosive play of the game as he broke a tackle in the backfield and reversed field around the left side on a 46-yard run to the Patriots’ five-yard line. Anthony Booker took it the rest of the way to give the Saints the lead for good with 7:54 to play in the opening period. Alex Brock tacked on the PAT for the 7-0 advantage.

On Sandy Creek’s next drive a holding penalty and back-to-back sacks by Chase Kerns and Keith Bass put the Patriots in a fourth and 29.

The Saints took over on their own 25 following the punt and on third and 11 EJ Colson (12-19 passing, 232 yards, 1 TD) connected with Devin Carter for a 20-yard gain. Two plays later the pair connected on a 52-yard touchdown pass play to up the lead to 14 with Brock’s PAT with 2:09 left in the opening period.

On Sandy Creek’s first possession of the second quarter Kerns and Kyle Mosley combined on a sack for a seven-yard loss and the Patriots punted for the third time in four tries with the football.

Colson connected with Malachi Miller for 15 yards and then another 11 yards to Carter as the Saints moved to the Patriots’ four-yard line. Walker went the final four yards for the touchdown as he bulled his way into the end zone with defenders hanging on to him. Brock again hit the PAT to make it 21-0 with 6:29 to play in the first half.

Wesley Brown ended the Saints next possession as he stepped in front of a pass to set Cedar Grove up at the Patriots’ 34-yard line. A 25-yard pass from Colson to Andrew Leslie set up a nine-yard run up the gut into the end zone by Walker with 3:46 left in the first half. Brock’s PAT made it 28-0.

Lakhi Roland intercepted a pass as Sandy Creek was trying to move the ball late in the half to end the Patriots drive at the Cedar Grove 31.

There were only three possessions in the third quarter as the Saints used five minutes and 10 seconds on the opening drive of the second half to come up empty on a missed 40-yard field goal and the forced Sandy Creek into a three-and-out to get the ball and being another drive that ran out the third period.

The Saints then elected for a 27-yard field goal by Brock with 11:54 to play to make it 31-0.

Roland picked up his second interception of the night to end Sandy Creek’s biggest threat of the night as he leaped in front of the intended receiver in the end zone on a fourth and goal from the 11 to end the scoring threat.

Rich Van Zant later returned a Saints’ punt to the Cedar Grove 26 to set up the Patriots’ only score of the night. Two plays later Dalen Patterson connected with Jace Campbell on a 26-yard pass into the end zone. Sheldon Bliss tacked on the PAT to make the final of 31-7 with 4:40 to play.

Cedar Grove recovered the onside kick attempt and ran out the final 4:36 of the game.

Towers 58, Landmark Christian 0
The Towers Titans (1-7, 1-2) went on the road to Landmark Christian (0-8, 0-3) and came away with a 58-0 victory to notch their first win for first year Head Coach Henry Garrett this past Friday night.

It was the Titans first victory since a 44-32 win over Therrell on October 29, 2021. It broke an 18-game non-win streak as the Titans had gone 0-9-1 (tied BEST 6-6) in 2022.

The Titans’ defense forced five turnovers (2 interceptions, 3 fumbles) on the way to the win including Amari Morgan’s fumble return for a touchdown.

Tyler Phillips fueled the Titan offense as he ran for three touchdowns in the game.

Dunwoody 34, South Cobb 0
The Dunwoody Wildcats posted their third shutout of the season with a 34-0 Region 4-6A road win on the road at South Cobb on Friday night.

While the defense shutout South Cobb, the Wildcats jumped to a 20-0 halftime lead on a touchdown pass from Matt Pearch to Max Quartararo, two field goals (25 and 35 yards) by Christian Lee (two PATs) and a one-yard touchdown run by Caden Celestine.

Late in the third quarter Pearch hit Porter Allison for a 10-yard scoring pass to make it 27-0 with Lee’s PAT. Cameron Iriastorza’s 10-yard fourth-quarter touchdown rounded out the scoring.

The Wildcat defense held South Cobb to just 88 yards of total offense in the game. Defensive tackle Noble Butler led the way with four tackles for a loss, including two sacks, with a pass defended and a force fumble. The Wildcats recorded 10 tackles for a loss in the game.

The Wildcats (7-1, 2-1) moved a step closer to sealing a state playoff berth for the first time since 2008.

Arabia Mountain 29, Chamblee 6
Twenty-nine unanswered points rallied the Arabia Mountain Rams to a 29-6 Region 4-5A win over the Chamblee Bulldogs on Friday night at North DeKalb Stadium.

Chamblee (3-5, 1-2) took a 6-0 lead with 8:00 minutes left in the first half on the second of two Zeek Edwards field goals, this one from 31 yards.

The Rams answered before halftime scoring on a touchdown pass from Julian Shanks to Alex Richard to tie the game at 6-6. Richard then caught the two-point conversion to give the Rams (7-1, 3-0) the lead for good at 8-6 heading into halftime.

Shanks would go on to throw three touchdown passes in the second half as Jordan Miller, Kenneth Hullinger and Daniel Ndukwe caught scoring passes. Kicker Mohan Masih hit all three PATs in the second half.

Ndukwe had six total tackles, three for a loss, to lead the Rams defense as the Rams went to 7-1 for the first time since 2016 as they have won seven in a row for the first time in school history.

Tucker 40, M.L. King 0
The Tucker Tigers kept pace with Arabia Mountain atop the Region 4-5A standings with a 40-0 win over the Martin Luther King Jr. Lions on Thursday night at Godfrey Stadium.

Senior running back Jordan McCoy led the way for the Tigers (5-3, 3-0) as he ran for 143 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries in the game. Jamar Graham added an 11-yard touchdown pass to Hasaan Sykes and Izayah Horsham had 10 carries for 85 yards.

Lakeside 33, Stone Mountain 7
The Lakeside Vikings evened their record at 4-4 on the season with a 33-7 win over the Stone Mountain Pirates (1-7) on Friday night at Adams Stadium.

Quarterback Kyle Davis threw two touchdown passes to Kelly Anthony and another to Roman Douthit and ran for another score to lead the Vikings offense. Kendel Thompson added a rushing touchdown. Lakeside has now won three of the last four games against Stone Mountain and lead the series 10-7.

Druid Hills 41, Johnson 0
The Druid Hills Red Devils secured their first winning season since 1993 (31 seasons) with a 41-0 homecoming victory over Johnson-Gainesville (3-5) at Avondale Stadium on Friday night.

It is the first six-win season for the Red Devils (6-1-1) since that 1993 team went 6-4. Druid Hills’ only loss was to Class 6A Dunwoody (36-7) and the tie came with Class 7A Berkmar (21-21).

Senior running back Jaden George had a career night as he rushed for 242 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries in the game.

DCSD FOOTBALL RESULTS – WEEK 10
Thursday, Oct. 19
GODFREY STADIUM
Tucker (5-3) 40, M.L. King (2-6)* 0

Friday, Oct. 20
ADAMS STADIUM
Lakeside (4-4) 33, Stone Mountain (1-7) 7
AVONDALE STADIUM
Druid Hills (6-1-1) 41, Johnson-Gainesville (3-5) 0
GODFREY STADIUM
Columbia (6-3)* 38, Redan (2-7) 6
HALLFORD STADIUM
Cedar Grove (4-5)* 31, Sandy Creek (6-3) 7
NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Arabia Mountain (7-1) 29, Chamblee (3-6)* 6

AWAY GAMES
HENDRSON STADIUM – Atlanta
Midtown (3-5) 30, Clarkston (1-7) 0
Seckinger (3-6) 43, Cross Keys (0-8) 0
Dunwoody (7-1) 34, South Cobb (0-8)* 0
Decatur (3-5)* 48, Lithonia (1-7) 0
Towers (1-7) 58, Landmark Christian (0-8)* 0

OPEN: McNair (4-4), Miller Grove (5-3), SW DeKalb (2-6), Stephenson (6-2)