Possible playoff berths and home playoff game possibilities came into better focus for several DeKalb football teams which picked up key region victories on Friday night.

The Columbia Eagles (3-6, 3-0) wrapped up their third region title in program history on Friday night by defeating the Redan Raiders (3-6, 1-2) 44-12 in a Region 6-2A contest at Cobb Stadium.

Columbia had not won a region title since 1981 when Ray Bonner took the Eagles all the way to the state finals before losing to Waycross. The only other region championship came in 1970 under Phil Knight.

Coach Greg Barnett has the Eagles in the state playoffs for the fourth consecutive season behind the play of quarterback Cameron Graves (12 of 18 for 207 yards, 2 TDs) who threw a pair of touchdowns, one to Rashaad Silver (8 receptions, 138 yards) and Demarion Davis (also with an interception).

Nishan Hillman added two touchdown runs in a game the Eagles led 20-6 at the half and 30-6 in the third quarter following a 39-yard field goal by Zachary Davis.

Columbia began the season 0-6 playing five ranked teams including Cartersville (#2 4A), Douglas County (#4 in 6A), Carrollton (#1 in 6A), Douglass (#5 in 3A) and Callaway (#8 in 2A).

Tucker 28, St. Pius 26
The Tucker Tigers rallied from a 20-0 second quarter deficit to upend the St. Pius Golden Lions 28-26 on a touchdown pass from Jace German to Jayden Joyner with 25 seconds to play in the game at Adams Stadium on Friday night.

Trailing 26-21 with just 1:21 to play in the game, Tucker (7-2, 6-1) drove 80 yards on the arm of German who was 4 for 4 passing on the drive, including three to Joyner. With the clock ticking under 40 seconds the Tigers were at the St. Pius 25-yard when German dropped back and was forced to roll right, pulled up and threw to the middle of the field to Joyner at the three-yard line where Joyner hauled in the pass and went untouched into the end zone. Lance Harrell hit the PAT to make it 28-26.

The defense then held the Lions during the final 25 seconds to close back the comeback victory.

Tucker got on the scoreboard just before half as German connected for a 10-yard touchdown pass to Eli Ffrench to head into halftime down 20-6. The second half opened with the Tigers driving 80 yards for a touchdown. German hit Robert Robinson for an eight-yard touchdown pass and then threw to Josiah Horner for the two-point conversion to pull Tucker within 20-14.

Izayah Horsham helped the Tigers to their first lead of the game with a 30-yard touchdown run and Harrell hit the PAT to make it 21-20 with just over six minutes to play. St. Pius answered with a 63-yard drive to regain the lead at 26-21 as the two-point try was stopped.

The win sets up a region title showdown for the Tigers on the road against No. 1 ranked Marist on Friday night at 7:30 pm. A win gives the Tigers the Region 5-4A championship, and a loss puts them on the road in the first round of the playoffs as the No. 3 seed.

Stephenson 28, Luella 7
The Stephenson Jaguars set up a Region 5-3A title match against the Douglass Astros (7-2, 5-0) and secured a home game in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs via dominating 28-7 win over the Luella Lions on Friday night at Hallford Stadium.

Jayden Johnson fueled the win for the Jaguars (6-3, 4-1) rushing for 217 yards and two touchdowns in the game. Johnson helped the Jaguars to an early 14-0 lead with a three-yard touchdown run and three-yard touchdown pass from Marte Barton to Romando Craddock.

Stephenson travels to Atlanta’s Lakewood Stadium on Friday at 8:00 pm for the showdown with Douglass.

Dunwoody 42, Chamblee 21
Two fourth quarter touchdowns sealed a 42-21 win for the Dunwoody Wildcats over the Chamblee Bulldogs to retain the Golden Spike Trophy at North DeKalb Stadium on Friday and open a pathway to a second consecutive state playoff appearance.

Leading 28-21 going into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats (3-6, 2-4) got a big fourth down and goal catch by Caleb Hamilton at the goal line on a pass from quarterback Matt Pearch (29-41, 304 yards, 5 TDs) to up the lead to 35-21 with over six minutes to play.

The Wildcats got the football back and were running the clock down late when Caden Celestine broke a 53-yard touchdown run that left no doubt the Wildcats would win the game.

Pearch’s three hundred yards passing was split between Danny Boden (11 receptions, 102 yards, 1 TD), Porter Allison (8 receptions, 102 yards, 2 TDs) and Hamilton (6 receptions, 57 yards, 2 TDs). Christian Lee hit all six of his PAT attempts. Preston Cooper led the defense with 14 total tackles.

The win opened the door for a playoff spot for the Wildcats if they can go on the road on Friday at Shiloh (3-6, 3-3) and come away with the win.

M.L. King 38, Drew 12
Jamarcus Harper ran for three touchdowns in a 38-12 breakout win for the Martin Luther Jr. Lions over the Drew at Southern Crescent Stadium on Friday night to revive the Lions’ playoff hopes.

Quarterback Fredrico Jones III had the Lions up 12-7 at the half as he ran 15-yards on a keeper for a touchdown and threw a touchdown to Aaron Graham for 30 yards.

The lead was upped to 19-7 in the third quarter as Jones threw to the back of the end zone to Zion McDay covering 16 yards. After Drew closed the gap to 19-13, the Lions responded with a Harper 16-yard touchdown to push the lead back out to 26-13.

Harper would add touchdown runs of eight and three yards and Donald Whiting hit three PTS along the way for the final of 38-13.

The Lions need a win by 13 or more points against Forest Park at Tara Stadium on Friday and wins by Mays over Drew and Jackson over Pace Academy to reach the state playoffs.

Druid Hills 45, Clarkston 6
Senior running back Zach Manning ran for four touchdowns and the Druid Hills Red Devils defense scored two touchdowns on the way to a 45-6 Region 5-4A win over the Clarkston Angoras at Adams Stadium on Saturday.

Senior defensive back Mike Ware had a pick-six for the second consecutive week and junior linebacker Niko Brown returned a fumble for a touchdown.

Sophomore quarterback Malachi Pace threw for a touchdown and a two-point conversion as the Red Devils improved 4-5 overall and 3-4 in region play.

Miller Grove 28, Salem 6
The Miller Grove Wolverines secured third place in Region 6-2A with a 28-6 win at Salem on Saturday afternoon.

Nashaun Porter ran for two touchdowns and over 100 yards in the win as the Wolverines improved to 5-5 overall.

DCSD FOOTBALL SCHEDULE – WEEK 11
Thursday, Oct. 24
ADAMS STADIUM
Shiloh (3-6, 3-3) 29, Lakeside (4-5, 3-3)* 21
COBB STADIUM
McNair (3-6, 1-4) 27, Towers (3-5, 1-4) 18
GODFREY STADIUM
Cedar Grove (3-5, 3-2) 44, Riverdale (0-9, 0-6) 0
NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Southwest DeKalb (6-3, 5-2) 55, Northview (1-8, 1-6) 8

Friday, Oct. 25
ADAMS STADIUM
Tucker (7-2, 6-1)* 28, St. Pius (7-3, 6-2) 26
COBB STADIUM
Columbia (3-6, 3-0)* 44, Redan (3-6, 1-2) 12
GODFREY STADIUM
Marist (9-0, 7-0) 49, Lithonia (5-4, 3-4)* 6
HALLFORD STADIUM
Stephenson (6-3, 4-1)* 28, Luella (4-5, 3-2) 7
NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Dunwoody (3-6, 2-4)* 42, Chamblee (1-8, 1-5) 21

AWAY GAMES
Tri-Cities (6-2, 4-2)* 13, Arabia Mountain (1-8, 0-6) 7
Skipstone Academy (2-5) 34, Cross Keys (0-8) 33
SOUTHERN CRESCENT STADIUM
M.L. King (3-6, 2-4) 38, Drew (6-3, 3-3)* 13

Saturday, Oct. 26
ADAMS STADIUM
Druid Hills (4-5, 3-4) 45, Clarkston (0-9, 0-7) 6

AWAY GAME
Miller Grove (5-4, 2-2) 28, Salem (1-6, 0-2) 6

OPEN: Stone Mountain (1-7)

*–Region Game