Senior Luke Cole and his defensive line teammates played a big role in leading the Dunwoody Wildcats to a 32-18 Region 4-6A high school football victory over the Riverwood Raiders on Senior Night/Homecoming at North DeKalb Stadium on Thursday night to clinch their first state playoff berth in 14 seasons.

The group teamed up for six plays of allowing 0 or negative yards including three sacks (1 safety), numerus quarterback hurries, recovered a fumble and blocked two Riverwood extra point attempts.

“Those guys fought their tails off all night,” said Dunwoody head football coach Mike Nash. “I’m proud of the whole team accomplishing something we had set as a goal, and we still have more in front of us.”

The fumble recovery by Rhett Hesprich stopped Riverwood’s opening drive of the game at the Dunwoody 32 and a sack by Noble Butler forced a punt late in the first quarter to set up the first score of the night.

Dunwoody (8-1, 3-1) drove to the Riverwood 17, but a pair of penalties forced the Wildcats to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Christian Lee early in the second quarter. The kick gave Dunwoody the 3-0 lead with 10:30 to play in the first half.

Riverwood (3-6, 1-3) took the lead with 7:11 to play I the second period as Jackson Davis (17 of 30, 235 yards, 3 TDs) connected down the seam with Jim Fluker on a 26-yard touchdown pass. Butler broke through to block the PAT to keep the margin at 6-3.

The Wildcats went to the run game on the ensuing drive giving Caden Celestine (12 carries, 40 yards, 1 TD) four consecutive carries (24 yards total) as he moved Dunwoody to the Raiders’ 40 yards. Fellow running back Malachi Crenshaw (14 carries, 108 yards, 1 TD) finished it off as he broke free up the middle and raced 40 yards into the end zone to give Dunwoody the lead for good. Lee’s PAT was good to make it a 10-6 advantage for the Wildcats with 5:28 left in the half.

Dunwoody’s defense forced a Riverwood punt the Wildcats got the ball back with 2:50 left in the half but were facing 87 yards of real state. A big fourth down and four at the Riverwood 30 went in favor of the Wildcats as Matt Pearch’s pass was tipped by his intended receiver and a defender and Max Quartararo gathered in for an eight-yard gain and first down.

A Christian Lee 34-yard field goal with 7.6 seconds to play in the half sent the Wildcats into halftime up 13-6. Cole was named Homecoming King at the half and came out playing hard in the third quarter.

He had a sack for a three-yard loss after Riverwood recovered a fumble on the second half kickoff at the Wildcat 23-yard line. It helped put the Raiders in a fourth and 18 situation. Davis dropped a nice pass into the side of the end zone to Devyn Gipson who got his foot in for the touchdown catch. Cole then blocked the PAT to allow Dunwoody to keep a 13-12 lead with 9:15 left in the period.

Dunwoody came right back as a 36-yard pass play from Pearch to Quartararo set up a three-yard touchdown run by Celestine to push the lead out to 20-12 with Lee’s PAT.

Riverwood came right back and with 5:41 left in the quarter Davis threw down the left sideline to Gipson as the two connected for their second touchdown of the period, this time 52 yards, to pull Riverwood within 20-18. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the Raiders back to the 18 for their two-point attempt. A pass from Davis to KJ McRae came up short as a pair of Dunwoody defenders pushed McRae out well short of the goal line.

The Wildcats answered right back as Pearch (18 of 30, 178 yards, 1 TD) threw up a 50-50 ball down the right sideline to Porter Allison who went up to take the ball away from a defender and turned to the end zone. The Riverwood defender grabbed on, but Allison fell into the end zone for the touchdown. Lee’s PAT made it 27-18 in favor of the Wildcats with 11:13 remaining in the game.

Facing fourth and 23 from their own five-yard line the Raiders decided to go for the first down. Davis dropped back into the end zone where Luke Phillips forced him from the pocket and into the arms of Cole and Butler who took him down for the safety. Dunwoody went up 29-18 with just 9:17 to play.

Dunwoody was forced to punt, and the defense came up big again as Reid Neel broke up a pass on third and 13. On fourth down Cole and Griffin Couch put the pressure on Davis to force an incompletion to get the ball back at the Riverwood 33.

The Wildcats would settle for a 37-yard field goal by Lee to make it a 32-18 lead. Riverwood was marching at the Dunwoody 35 when Harrison Martin stepped in front of a deep pass near the goal line and intercepted to complete the win.

The win clinched the No. 3 seed out of Region 4-6A for the Wildcats and they can improve to a two-seed with an upset of highly regarded North Atlanta in a road game next week. The region will face Region 1-6A in the opening round of the playoffs.

Stephenson 21, Holy Innocent’s 14
Playing for a home playoff game, the Stephenson Jaguars hosted Holy Innocent’s in a crucial game at Hallford Stadium on Thursday night and came away with a 21-14 win.

Stephenson (7-2, 3-1) scored early in the fourth quarter as talented senior running back Devin Ingram scored 20th rushing touchdown (also has two kickoff returns for scores) of the season with an explosive 60-yard run to the end zone. Anthony Zelaya hit the PAT to make it 7-0.

The score remained 7-0 until Holy Innocent’s (7-2, 2-2) knotted the game at 7-all with 8:30 to play in the half. Stephenson went on to take a 21-7 lead into half as Ingram added a 10-yard touchdown (Zelaya PAT) and Andrew Perry went 20 yards for another score.

Holy Innocent’s pulled within 21-14 with 2:48 left in the third quarter. The Golden Bears controlled the football in the second half allowing the Jaguars just one possession in the final two quarters.

The Stephenson defense stepped on the last play of the game forcing an incomplete pass on fourth and goal from the Jaguar 10-yard line.

A Stephenson win over rival Southwest DeKalb next week and a loss by Hapeville to either Miller Grove (Friday) or Holy Innocent’s (next week) would give the Jaguars their first region title since 2019.

Redan 59, Landmark 0
It was a historic night on Senior Night at Adams Stadium as the Redan Raiders broke 16-year playoff drought by defeating Landmark 59-0 on Thursday night Adams Stadium to claim a state playoff berth.

The Raider (4-6, 3-3) defense held Landmark (0-9, 0-6) to just one first down in the game and running backs Jackie Bowdry and Tyheim Behling teamed up for three touchdowns and 237 yards rushing in the win.

Bowdry finished the night with 150 yards on the ground including touchdown runs of 60 and 50 yards. Behling finished with 87 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

Place kicker Louis Maciel finished the night going eight-for-eight on PATS and connecting on a 37-yard field goal.

In other Thursday night games in DeKalb, Southwest DeKalb (2-7, 0-3) fell 19-37 to Westminster (6-3, 3-1) in Region 6-4A action at Godfrey Stadium and Tucker (6-3, 4-0) remained at the top of the Region 4-5A standings with a 55-6 win over the Lithonia Bulldogs (1-8, 0-4) at Avondale Stadium.

DCSD FOOTBALL RESULTS – WEEK 11
Thursday, 10/26
ADAMS STADIUM
Redan (4-6) 59, Landmark (0-9) 0
AVONDALE STADIUM
Tucker (6-3) 55, Lithonia (1-8) 6
GODFREY STADIUM
Westminster (6-3) 37, SW DeKalb (2-7) 19
HALLFORD STADIUM
Stephenson (7-2) 21, Holy Innocent’s (7-2) 14
NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Dunwoody (8-1) 32, Riverwood (3-6) 18

DCSD FOOTBALL SCHEDULE – WEEK 11
Friday, 10/27
ADAMS STADIUM
Lakeside (4-4) vs. Druid Hills (6-1-1) (SN), 7:30 pm
AVONDALE STADIUM
Eagles’ Landing (2-6) vs. Towers (1-7), 7:30 pm
GODFREY STADIUM
M.L. King (2-6) vs. Arabia Mountain (7-1)(SN)*, 7:30 pm
HALLFORD STADIUM
Hapeville (4-4) vs. Miller Grove (5-3)(SN)*, 7:30 pm
NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Midtown (3-5) vs. Stone Mountain (1-7), 7:30 pm

AWAY GAMES
Chamblee (3-6) at Decatur (3-5)*, 7:30 pm
Clarkston (1-7) at Johnson-Gainesville (3-5), 7:30 pm
Cross Keys (0-8) at Notre Dame (3-5), 4:00 pm
McNair (4-4) at Callaway (5-2)*, 7:30 pm

OPEN: Cedar Grove (4-5), Columbia (6-3)

(HC) – Homecoming
(SN) – Senior Night
*–Division game