Southwest DeKalb scored 35 answered points in the first half of a 48-14 Region 5-4A victory over the Druid Hills Red Devils at North DeKalb Stadium on Friday night to clinch the No. 2 seed heading into the state playoffs.

The Panthers (7-3, 6-2) won the tiebreaker in the three-way tie with Tucker (7-3, 6-2) and St. Pius X (7-3, 6-2).

Druid Hills (4-6, 3-5) took an 8-6 lead with 2:58 to play in the first quarter as Bre’lon Cade took the direct snap in the Wildcat formation and ran right into the end zone from six yards outs. Zachary Manning added the two-point conversion for the lead on the score set up by John Golden’s interception of a screen pass.

Southwest DeKalb struck quickly after falling behind as Jordan Christie returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to put the Panthers ahead for good. Kelvin Saturday’s PAT was good for a 13-8 lead. The lead expanded quickly when on the second play of the next Druid Hills’ possession Brandon Gunn stepped in front of a pass and returned it 30 yards for the pick six. Saturday was good again on the PAT.

Halfway into the second quarter Southwest DeKalb’s Braylon Carter connected on his second touchdown pass of the game (the first was a 10-yarder to Samuel Turner) throwing a screen left to receiver Jordan Christie who cut down the left sideline and raced 68 yards for the touchdown. Saturday pushed the lead out to 27 to 8.

Carter would add two more touchdown passes before the end of the first half hitting a 24-yarder to Christie and then a 51-yard screen play to Turner as the lead ballooned to 41-8 at the half.

Backup quarterback Tommie Traylor got into the touchdown pass business at the 8:44 mark of the third quarter as he tossed a 37-yard scoring pass to a wide-open Turner just outside the goal line. Saturday connected on the point after to make it 48-8.

Druid Hills drove back down the field with Pace connecting on a nine-yard touchdown pass to Cade. The try for two was no good and the score was final at 48-14.

Carter finished the night hitting on 10 of 14 passes for 218 yards and four touchdowns with a lone interception. Turner finished the night with four receptions for 102 yards and three touchdowns. Jordan Christie caught three passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns while adding an 85-yard kickoff return for a score to open the game.

Stephenson 15, Douglass 9
The Stephenson Jaguars rallied and held off the Douglass Astros for a 15-9 win at Lakewood Stadium in Atlanta on Friday night to capture the Region 5-3A championship trophy.

Douglass (7-3, 5-1) kicked a field goal late in the third quarter to regain the lead at 9-7 in the defensive battle. Stephenson grabbed the lead back with three minutes left in the game on a 20-yard run by Anthony Booker. Booker added on the two-point conversion to make it 15-9.

The Astros got moving on offense in the final minutes driving to the Stephenson 15 where Marcus Andrews had a strip sack to seal the win and the region title for the Jaguars.

Stephenson led 7-6 at the half via a 45-yard touchdown pass from Marte Barton to Noah Mahoney.

Dunwoody 41, Shiloh 26
Dunwoody’s Julian Madison returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown to help propel the Wildcats (4-6, 3-4) to a 41-26 Region 4-5A road win over Shiloh (3-7, 3-4) to grab the final playoff spot from the region.

Madison’s kickoff return spurred the Wildcats to a 21-0 halftime lead along with scoop and score by defensive lineman Noble Butler and Shiloh never recovered.

Matt Pearch finished the night with four touchdown passes including one each to Danny Boden, Porter Allison, Koi Young and Malachi Cranshaw to give him 27 scoring tosses on the season. Christian Lee hit five of his six extra point tries.

The win puts the Wildcats into the state playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2008 and 2009.

M.L. King 61, Forest Park 14
The Martin Luther King Jr. Lions secured the program’s first playoff berth since the 2020 season by knocking off the Forest Park Panthers 61-14 at Tara Stadium on Friday night.

Six turnovers were forced by the Lions defense with two going for scores and quarterback Fredrico Jones III accounted for five touchdowns on offense, three passing and two rushing.

Waylon Thompson’s seven-yard run up the middle put the Lions on the board first as they roared out to a 26-0 lead. Defensive end Giovannia Martinez recovered a fumble to set up a 25-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Zion McDay to make it 13-0 with Donald Whiting’s PAT. Jones ran six-yards on a keeper and Whiting’s PAT made it 20-0. The first of two J’Corey Cox’s interceptions set up another touchdown pass by Jones to McDay again, this time for nine yards.

Forest Park got on the board next and the Lions answered with a special teams touchdown as Aaron Graham returned the kickoff 71 yards and Whiting tacked on the PAT to make it 33-7. Free safety Jordan Perkins got the first of two defensive scores with a 45-yard pick-six and Whiting made it 40-7.

Following another Forest Park score, a 40-yard pass from Jones to Tyler Lynch set up Jones’ third touchdown pass of the day as he connected with Kam Kibbler on a 25-yard score and Whiting again tacked on the PAT to make it 47-14.

A bad snap by the Panthers went into the end zone and linebacker Antavion Smith pounced on the football for the second defensive score of the game. Whiting’s PAT made it 54-14. Cox picked off his second pass of the game and Jones finished off the drive with a 10-yard scramble for the touchdown and Whiting hit his seventh PAT to make the final of 61-14.

Jordan Woods finished the game off with a 25-yard interception return.

Chamblee 28, Arabia Mountain 21 OT
The Chamblee Bulldogs rallied from seven-point deficits three times before knocking off the Arabia Mountain Rams 28-21 in an overtime thriller.

Chamblee (2-8, 2-5) got the ball first in overtime and quarterback Brayden Doss led his fourth scoring drive of the game. Doss finished off the overtime possession with a five-yard touchdown run and Henry Franell hit the PAT to make it 28-21 with the Rams taking their turn in overtime.

Arabia Mountain had the ball fourth and goal and appeared to be going in for a score when Diego Briceno and Jacob Hawkins stopped the Ram runner just shy of the goal line to seal the win.

Arabia Mountain led 7-0 in the first quarter before Chamblee tied the game before halftime. The Rams (1-9, 0-7) went back in front 14-7 in the third quarter. Chamblee tied the game at 14 with 6:23 to play only to have the Rams retake the lead at 21-14 with 3:49 remaining. The Bulldogs scored with just 22 seconds to play to send the game into overtime.

Columbia 48, Salem 6
The Columbia Eagles finished their Region 6-2A slate undefeated to win their first region crown since 1981 via a 48-6 road win over Salem.

Cameron Graves got the Eagles rolling early as he connected with Rashaad Silver for a touchdown. A safety by the defense and a Zach Davis field goal put the Eagles up 12-0 on the way to a 19-6 halftime lead.

Freshman defensive back Jamarion Davis added a pick-six to the scoreboard as he recorded an interception for the third consecutive game. Delante Stephens added a touchdown run for Columbia (4-6, 4-0).

DCSD FOOTBALL RESULTS – WEEK 12
Thursday, Oct. 31
GODFREY STADIUM
McNair (4-6, 2-4)* 80, Utopian (0-9, 0-5) 0
HALLFORD STADIUM
Lithonia (6-4, 4-4) 54, Clarkston (0-10, 0-8)* 0

Friday, Nov. 1
ADAMS STADIUM
Woodward (7-3, 7-0) 50 Lakeside (4-6, 3-4)* 0
COBB STADIUM
Social Circle (7-3, 5-1) 35, Towers (3-6, 1-5)* 6
GODFREY STADIUM
Chamblee (2-8, 2-5) 28, Arabia Mountain (1-9, 0-7)* 21 OT
HALLFORD STADIUM
South Atlanta (5-5, 3-1) 14, Redan (3-7, 1-3)* 6
NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Southwest DeKalb (7-3, 6-2) 48, Druid Hills (4-6, 3-5)* 8

AWAY GAMES
Luella (5-5, 4-2)* 35, Cedar Grove (3-6, 3-3) 25
Columbia (4-6, 4-0) 48, Salem (1-8, 0-4)* 6
Dunwoody (4-6, 3-4) 41, Shiloh (3-7, 3-4)* 26
Marist (10-0, 8-0)* 60, Tucker (7-3, 6-2) 22
LAKEWOOD STADIUM
Stephenson (7-3, 5-1) 15, Douglass (7-3, 5-1)* 9
SOUTHERN CRESCENT STADIUM
Riverdale (1-9) 21, Stone Mountain (1-8) 20
TARA STADIUM
M.L. King (4-6, 3-4) 61, Forest Park (1-8, 0-6)* 14

OPEN: Cross Keys (0-8), Miller Grove (5-5)
*–Region Game
(HC) – Homecoming
(SN) – Senior Night