Cedar Grove’s Bo Walker blocked a punt and scored on a 35-yard run to help lead the Cedar Grove Saints to a 30-27 win over Hebron Christian in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Stephenson, Columbia and Cedar Grove won their first-round playoff games to advance to the Sweet 16 of their respective playoff brackets over the past weekend.
The No. 2 ranked Cedar Grove Saints (6-5) were the only DeKalb team to win on Friday night as they held off a fourth-quarter rally by Hebron Christian (6-5) to win 30-27 in a Class 3A first round playoff game.
Cedar Grove made two big plays on defense and special teams in the first half to take a 17-7 lead at the half. D’Marcus Clements put the Saints up 7-0 on a 36-yard pick six with 8:31 remaining in the second quarter. Alex Brock added the PAT.
Jarvis Mathurin tied the game with a long run just three minutes later.
The Saints’ special teams got into the act as Bo Walker blocked a Hebron punt and Joseph Slaughter recovered in the end zone. Brock tacked on the PAT again to make it 14-7.
On the ensuing kickoff Braylen Gilstrap stripped the ball from the returner and the Saints’ Jeremiah Stallworth recovered to set up a 27-yard field goal by Brock to make it 17-7 at the half.
Cedar Grove’s defense stopped Hebron on a fourth and goal at the Saints’ one-yard line in the third quarter to keep the lead at 17-7. The Saints would respond early in the fourth quarter as Walker got loose for a 35-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 23-7.
Another Mathurin touchdown run pulled Hebron back within 23-13 and Cedar Grove answered as quarterback EJ Colson connected with Malachi Miller for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Brock’s PAT made it 30-13 with 8:25 to play.
Hebron would score on a 65-yard touchdown by Adrian Hollingshed to close the gap to 30-20. The Lions scored one final time with just over a minute to play to make the final 30-27.
The Saints moved on to face Bremen (9-2), the Region 6 No. 2 seed, which defeated White County 40-17 in the first round. The game is set for Godfrey Stadium at 7:30 pm on Friday.
Stephenson’s Devin Ingram ran for 221 yards and four touchdowns in Stephenson’s 62-15 win over Northwest Whitfield. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Stephenson 62, NW Whitfield 15
The No. 9 ranked Stephenson Jaguars rolled up 553 yards of total offense and eight touchdowns on just 38 plays as they rolled 62-15 over the Northwest Whitfield Bruins on Saturday night at Hallford Stadium in a Class 4A state playoff first round game.
The onslaught was led by senior running back Devin Ingram who had his second consecutive game with over 200 yards rushing and fourth overall as he ran for 221 yards and four touchdowns on just 15 carries.
Tyler Bercy added 108 yards and two touchdowns to the Stephenson total of 415 yards and six touchdowns in the game. Collin Seals returned a kickoff for another score.
The defense was led by Altariq Smith with 8 total tackles and a sack and Romando Craddock added a pair of sacks.
Northwest Whitfield (6-5) did not score until it was 27-0 late in the second quarter. The Bruins would not score again until late in the third quarter to pull within 55-15.
The Jaguars (9-2) play host to Luella (6-5), the Region 5 No. 2 seed, which defeated East Forsyth 26-21 in the opening round.
Columbia’s Lamaze Williams (4) ran for 300 yards and five touchdowns as the Eagles rolled over Athens Academy 53-36 in first round Class 2A playoff action. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Columbia 53, Athens Academy 26
The Columbia Eagles moved into the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years under Head Coach Greg Barnett with a 53-26 Class 2A playoff victory over Athens Academy on Saturday afternoon at Avondale Stadium.
Columbia got big chunks on the ground totaling 666 yards and seven touchdowns led by senior Lamaze Williams with 23 carries for 300 yards and five touchdowns. The performance propelled Williams over 1,000 yards on the season with 1,247 and 11 touchdowns. Fellow senior Jaden Baugh added 13 carries for 295 yards and two touchdowns to move his season totals to 1,319 yards and 17 touchdowns on 94 carries.
Charles Harris added an explosive 25-yard touchdown run along the way. The defense was led by seniors Edwin Moore and Shantez Starks and juniors Cain Jefferson and Mikal Edwin.
The Eagles go on the road to North Cobb Christian (9-2), the Region 6 No. 1 seed, which defeated Fanin County 35-27 in the opening round of the playoffs. It is a rematch of the 2022 first round game won 13-8 by North Cobb Christian.
Arabia Mountain’s Jordan Miller (5) cuts behind a block by Josh James (30) on one of his big kick returns against Jenkins. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Jenkins 14, Arabia Mountain 13
The Arabia Mountain Rams had a region championship season come to an end with a 14-13 loss to the Jenkins Warriors in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs at Godfrey Stadium on Friday night.
Trailing 14-13 with the clock ticking under two minutes to play, the Rams (9-2) had forced the Warriors (4-7) to punt. Jordan Miller fielded the punt and weaved his way down the field for 50 yards before being run out of bounds at the Jenkins three-yard line.
A holding call during the run back put the Rams at the Jenkins 33 instead with 1:43 left on the clock. Facing fourth and seven at the 30, Rams quarterback Julian Shanks was forced to throw the ball down the field where Jenkins’ Todd Rhodes was able to come down with the interception with 55 seconds left.
Jenkins was able to run out the clock to seal the win.
The Rams had nine penalties for 100 yards at several key points in the game that ruined big plays by the Rams.
An eight-yard run by Laron Jones earlier in the fourth quarter down to the Jenkins 25 was nullified by a holding call and the Rams ended up punting.
The Rams controlled the game for the most part holding Jenkins to just 78 yards of offense and putting up 178 yards on the ground on the way to 252 yards of total offense.
Arabia scored first with 1:25 to play in the first half as Shanks threw down the right sideline to a streaking Alex Richard who hauled in the pass for a 56-yard touchdown. The try for two was no good to keep the score at 6-0.
The ensuing kick was squibbed, and the ball got knocked around and out of bounds at the Rams’ 40. Jenkins then hit its biggest play of the night as Demetrius Holloway hit Jeremiah Jones for a 27-yard gain to the Arabia 10. Holloway finished the drive with a one-yard sneak into the end zone with 29 seconds left in the half. Joshua Woodley put Jenkins up 7-6 at the half with his PAT.
Miller opened the second half with a 79-yard return to the Jenkins 13-yard line. After an 11-yard scramble by Shanks, Daniel Turpin bulled over a defender into the end zone to put the Rams up with 10:55 to play in the third quarter. Mohen Mesih hit the PAT to make it 13-7.
The Rams were driving after a fumble recovery by Marcus Moten when another holding call wiped out a 22-yard run by Jones. A third and 11 pass was intercepted by Jenkins’ Sylvester Harris who escaped down the left sideline for a 75-yard pick-six. Woodley hit the PAT to give Jenkins the 14-13 lead.
Statesboro 49, Tucker 28
In other Class 5A state playoff action the Tucker Tigers (6-5) dropped a home game by a score of 49-28 to Statesboro. Tucker took a 20-13 on a Jamar Graham 25-yard touchdown pass to Rashard Martin in the second quarter.
Statesboro answered with three unanswered touchdowns to go up 35-20 at the half. Tucker was trailing 42-20 when Dallas Kelly had a 30-yard pick six. Eli French got the two-point conversion to close the gap to 14.
Statesboro put the game away with another score.
Other DeKalb teams whose seasons came to an ender were Chamblee (56-0 to Coffee), Dunwoody (51-14 to Lee County) and Redan (42-14 to Fellowship Christian). Redan (16 seasons) and Dunwoody (14 seasons) had ended long playoff droughts this season.
DCSD FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RESULTS – 1ST ROUND
Friday, Nov. 10
CLASS 5A
GODFRY STADIUM
Jenkins (4-7) 14, Arabia Mountain (9-2) 13
ADAMS STADIUM
Statesboro (4-7) 49, Tucker (6-5) 28
CLASS 3A
HALLFORD STADIUM
Cedar Grove (6-5) 30, Hebron Christian (6-5) 27
AWAY
CLASS 6A
Lee Co. (9-2) 51, Dunwoody (8-3) 14
CLASS 5A
Coffee (11-0) 56, Chamblee (4-7) 0
Saturday, Nov. 11
CLASS 4A
HALLFORD STADIUM
Stephenson (9-2) 62, Northwest Whitfield (6-5) 15
CLASS 2A
AVONDALE STADIUM
Columbia (8-3) 53, Athens Academy (6-5) 26
AWAY
CLASS 2A
Fellowship Christian (9-2) 42, Redan (4-7) 14
DCSD FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE – 2ND ROUND
Friday, Nov. 17
CLASS 4A
HALLFORD STADIUM
Luella (6-5) vs. Stephenson (9-2), 7:30 pm
CLASS 3A
GODFREY STADIUM
Bremen (9-2) vs. Cedar Grove (6-5), 7:30 pm
AWAY
Columbia (8-3) at North Cobb Christian (9-2), 7:30 pm