Southwest DeKalb sophomore running back Jamel Starks (with ball) got away from a hit in the backfield and twisted his way into the end zone to pull the Panthers into a 14-14 tie with Cedar Grove. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter against a Top 10 ranked opponent is not the best way to pull off an upset, but the Southwest DeKalb Panthers rallied for a thrilling 21-20 victory over Class 3A No. 4 Cedar Grove Saints at Godfrey Stadium on Friday night.
The Panthers’ fans had a big sign with just the name Tanks on it to honor their late Head Football Coach Michael Tanks who passed away early in preseason practice. His team dedicated their season to Tanks whose son, Michael Tanks Jr., is one of their teammates and used that emotion to rally against the talented Saints.
Trailing 20-13 with just 8:37 to play, the Panthers drove 69 yards in 10 plays to take the 21-20 lead on a 20-yard pass from junior quarterback Justin Tomlin who had scrambled to his left away from the Cedar Grove pressure and found Michael Pace in the end zone to make it 20-20 with 3:07 to play. Marquel Crowder’s point after was good for the lead.
Cedar Grove’s Grant Walker cuts up field against Southwest DeKalb. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Cedar Grove marched right down the field driving to the Southwest eight-yard line with 35.3 seconds on a Grant Walker’s six-yard run. An incomplete pass and a sack of Woods by the Panther defense forced Cedar Grove to call its final timeout and send out the field goal unit with 21.5 seconds remaining on the clock.
The 31-yard attempt went wide left and sent the Southwest players and fans into celebration with 12 seconds to play. A kneel down ran out the final 12 seconds and sealed the win.
Cedar Grove quarterback had the Saints’ offense rolling early scoring on a 38-yard pass play to sophomore receiver Jayden Haselwood on the opening drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead with 10:21 left.
Woods would score on a one-yard sneak into the end zone with 3:58 left in the first quarter as the Saints took a 14-0 after Solee Fofana hit his second point after kick of the quarter.
Southwest DeKalb drove right back down the field going 56 yards in 7 plays as junior quarterback Justin Tomlin finished off the drive on a 14-yard scramble and dive into the end zone. The point after was no good and the lead had shrunk to 14-6.
Just as halftime was ending, the two teams had to sit and wait out a 30-minute lighting delay before resuming the game. The Panthers seemed little bothered by the delay. Tomlin opened the half by getting loose up the middle of the field for a 55-yard scamper to the Cedar Grove one-yard line.
On third and goal from the two, Jamel Starks took the handoff, was hit in the backfield, but turned and twisted his way into the end zone with 9:27 left in the third quarter. A two-point pass play from Tomlin to Jonathan Green tied the game at 14-14.
Mitchell Edwards would help the Panthers keep the Saints in check with a pair of interceptions in the third quarter, the second out fighting a Saint receiver in the end zone for the ball to end a scoring threat.
Cedar Grove put together a fourth quarter drive running 5 minutes and 30 seconds off the clock to take the 20-14 lead with 3:07 to play on a tough one-yard run by Walker. The point after was no good.
The Panthers improved to 2-0 on the season as Justin Tomlin finished with 102 yards rushing and 71 passing while accounting for a pair of touchdowns. Cedar Grove’s Jelani Woods had 110 yards passing and 33 yards rushing with a pair of touchdowns to lead the Saints who fell to 1-1 on the season.
McNair’s Darius George (15) hauls in a 40-yard touchdown pass during McNair’s big first half surge. (Photo by Mark Brock)
McNair 55, Clarkston 12
The McNair Mustangs opened up the 2016 season with a 55-12 victory over the Clarkston Angoras behind four touchdown passes from quarterback Jaden Wooden at Godfrey Stadium on Friday night.
McNair held a 7-6 lead with 2:32 to play in the first quarter as the Angoras countered a 17-yard touchdown run from McNair’s Anthony Walker with a one-yard sneak by Foday Tarawally.
Wooden began to heat up on the next drive as his 39-yard pass to Jaylen Macklin set up the next Mustang touchdown. Christopher Brown made it 13-6 with 1:49 left in the first period as he caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Wooden, the first of two on the day for Brown.
McNair would go on to score three more touchdowns via the pass and Wooden’s arm to push the lead to 33-6 with 6:27 to play. Wooden connected with Macklin (7 yards), Brown for the second time (a 37-yard screen pass) and a dep ball down the middle to Darius George (40 yards).
Brandon Duckworth would get a safety for the Mustangs and on the ensuing kick teammate Jalen Brown returned it 60 yards for another touchdown as the lead went out to 42-6 with 4:24 to play in the first half
Terry Grier sent the Mustangs into the half up 49-6 with a 12-yard rushing touchdown with 2:11 left in the second quarter.
Clarkston’s Charles Ash (with ball) went up the middle for 13 yards to set up the Angoras’ first touchdown. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Grier ended the scoring for McNair with 8:45 left in the third period as he returned an interception 19 yards for his second touchdown of the game.
Clarkston would make the final score of 55-12 as Cier Tay-Pearson broke through the McNair defense and raced 55 yards for a touchdown with 11:33 to play in the game.
Wooden finished the game hitting 7 of 10 passes for 186 yards and the four touchdowns. Christopher Brown finished with four receptions for 90 yards and two scores.
Tucker 48, Lakeside 10
The Tucker Tigers took advantage of three Lakeside Vikings’ fumbles on the way to a 16th consecutive victory over their DeKalb County rival 48-10 at Adams Stadium on Friday night.
Quarterback Xavier Shephard threw touchdown passes to Dion Watkins (75 yards) and Josh Vann (9 yards) and ran for a 40-yard score in leading the Tigers (1-1) as they bounced back from their tough 20-13 loss to Kell last week.
Chris Broadwater added touchdown runs of 20 and 30 yards to go with rushing touchdowns by Taurean Taylor (23 yards) and Darick Stephenson in the Tigers’ victory. Lakeside fell to 1-1 as the Vikings suffered their first loss of the season.
Redan 24, Lithonia 20
Quarterback Cori Pritchett had three second half touchdowns to rally the Redan Raiders to a 24-20 victory over the Lithonia Bulldogs in their DeKalb Rivalry on Friday night at Hallford Stadium.
Lithonia (0-2) jumped out 14-0 and was holding a 14-6 lead heading into the second half.
Pritchett scored once in the third quarter and then twice more in the fourth to put Redan ahead 24-14. The Bulldogs answered with a late touchdown, but the Raiders (1-1) got the onside kick and ran out the clock to secure the victory.
DCSD WEEK 2 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Friday, Aug 26
McNair (1-0) 55, Clarkston (0-2) 12
Decatur (1-1) 19, Chamblee (0-2) 6
Columbia (1-1) 34, Druid Hills (1-1) 19
Miller Grove (2-0) 30, Stone Mountain (0-2) 0
Redan (1-1) 24, Lithonia (0-2) 20
Mill Creek (2-0) 32, Stephenson (0-2) 7
Banneker (1-0) 26, Towers (0-2) 0
Tucker (1-1) 48, Lakeside (1-1) 10
SW DeKalb (2-0) 21, Cedar Grove (1-1) 20
Saturday, Aug. 27
Arabia Mountain (2-0) 34, M.L. King (1-1) 0
Open: Cross Keys (0-0), Dunwoody (0-1)
