Cedar Grove's Grant Walker rushed for 180 yards and 3 TDs on 9 carries to lead the Saints in the 63-17 win over Union County. (Photo by Mark Brock)

Cedar Grove’s Grant Walker rushed for 180 yards and 3 TDs on 9 carries to lead the Saints in the 63-17 win over Union County. (Photo by Mark Brock)

Grant Walker rushed for 180 yards and 3 touchdowns on just nine carries to lead the No. 6 Cedar Grove Saints to a 63-17 runaway Class 3A state playoff victory the Union County Panthers at Godfrey Stadium on Saturday.

The victory propels the Saints (9-2) into the Sweet 16 and a road trip to Savannah on Friday against Jenkins (10-1).
Cedar Grove was leading 7-3 on the back of a Jadon Haselwood 57-yard punt return for the touchdown when Walker broke loose for a 27-yard touchdown run and the rout was on at 13-3 with 4:08 left in the first quarter. Walker accounted for 62 yards on the drive.
Walker would set up the next Saints’ touchdown as he went 41 yards to the Panthers’ 5-yard line. The next play Jelani Woods passed outside to Israel Spivey who used a teammates’ block to glide into the end zone. Solee Fofana added the point after for 20-3 advantage with 1:52 left in the first quarter.
Tre Shaw went 33 yards up the middle for the Saints fourth touchdown of first half for a 27-3 lead with 11:35 left in the first half. Fofana again tacked on the extra point.
Walker picked up his second touchdown of the game with a 15-yard run following another big punt return by Haselwood to the Union County 15. Woods hit Dennis Bell for the two-point conversion pass for a 35-3 advantage with 9:31 left in the first half.
Darrell Neal had a 9-yard touchdown run before Walker exploded for a 51-yard touchdown run to make it 49-3 at the half.
Cedar Grove added a 4-yard touchdown pass from Woods to Haselwood and a 21-yard pick six by Dennis Bell early in the third quarter to push the lead to 63-3 with 5:42 left in the period.
Cedar Grove's Jadon Haselwood (15) ran a punt back 57 yards for a TD and hauled in a TD pass in the Saints' first round playoff win. (Photo by Mark Brock)

Cedar Grove’s Jadon Haselwood (15) ran a punt back 57 yards for a TD and hauled in a TD pass in the Saints’ first round playoff win. (Photo by Mark Brock)

Cole Wright would drive the Panthers to a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns. Wright would score on an 11-yard run and then hit Logan Dyer for a 28-yard scoring strike for the final margin of 63-17.

The Saints defense held the Panthers to just 107 yards until the final two scoring drives. Jelani Woods had 110 yards passing on 8 of 8 throws and two touchdowns.
Cedar Grove joins Tucker (6A), Stephenson (6A) and Arabia Mountain (5A) as DeKalb teams in the second round of the state playoffs.
DCSD FOOTBALL STATE PLAYOFF RESULTS
SATURDAY, NOV. 12
CLASS 3A
GODFREY STADIUM
Cedar Grove (9-2) 63, Union Co. (8-3) 17
DCSD FOOTBALL STATE PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, NOV. 18
CLASS 6A
ADAMS Stadium
Harrison (10-1) vs. Tucker (10-1), 7:30 pm
AWAY GAMES
Stephenson (7-4) at Dacula (7-4), 7:30 pm
CLASS 5A
HALLFORD STADIUM
Griffin (10-1) vs. Arabia Mountain (9-2), 7:30 pm
CLASS 3A
Cedar Grove (9-2) at Jenkins-Savannah (10-1), 7:30 pm