Cedar Grove’s Ricky Lee (1) and Quinterio Lawson (2) team up for a tackle during the Saints state championship win over Carver last December. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Week 9 of high school football in DeKalb County gets an early start as the Region 5-3A matchup between No. 1 ranked Cedar Grove and Douglass was m moved from Henderson Stadium in Atlanta to Hallford Stadium in Clarkston for a Wednesday 7:00 pm kickoff.
Cedar Grove (4-2) is coming off a bye week and faces Douglass (3-4) in the two teams’ Region 5-3A opener. The Saints last game was a big 35-14 win over No. 22 ranked St. John’s in Washington DC two weeks ago.
Sophomore quarterback Elliot Colson leads DeKalb in passing with 1,287 yards (136-86-3) and 11 touchdowns to lead the Saints offense. He has also rushed for 153 yards and 5 touchdowns. Barry Jackson has 27 receptions for 461 yards and two touchdowns.
Cedar Grove’s defense is led by a trio of linebackers in junior Keith Bass (43 tackles, 4 for loss), senior Quinterio Lawson (35 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 for loss) and Adonijah Green (28 tackles, 5 sacks, 7 for loss). Junior defensive tackle Kyle Mosley is third on the team in overall tackles with 32 (2 sacks, 3 for loss, 1 Int).
Douglass is coming in off an 18-10 loss to Jackson last week.
Three key region matchups are set for DeKalb Stadiums on Friday as teams try to improve their playoff standings as the season winds down.
Stephenson (4-2, 2-0) faces off with Miller Grove (3-4, 1-1) in a big Region 6-4A clash at 7:30 pm in Clarkston’s Hallford Stadium as the Jaguars look to stay undefeated in region play.
Miller Grove’s Ta’Jon Corbitt (with ball) runs to daylight in season opener vs. Tucker. Corbitt and Miller Grove take on Stephenson in a Region 6-4A contest on Friday. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The Jaguars are coming off a big 18-13 win over then co-leader Westminster last week. Junior running back Devin Ingram is closing in on 700 yards rushing for the season and has seven touchdowns to lead the Jaguars’ ground attack while teammate Cheik Keita had over 300 yards and four touchdowns. Ingram went over 200 yards against Westminster.
Miller Grove’s defense must slow down the ground attack of the Jaguars (over 300 yards against Westminster) with the aid of senior linebackers Cayman Spalding (55 tackles, 2 sacks, 9 for loss, 1 INT, 1 FC, 1 FR) and Roddrigus Tracy (56 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 FR) after the first six games of the season.
The Wolverines are coming off a tough 14-7 road loss to Holy Innocents last week and led by top running back in DeKalb in junior Ta’Jon Corbitt with over 800 yards and six touchdowns on the season. Sophomore quarterback Christian Jamison has thrown for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns as the Wolverines have a balance offense. The Wolverines have a pair of big play receivers in senior Jayvonne Dillard (19.4 yards per catch) and Keshawn Weathers (26.0 yards per catch) and a combined six touchdowns (3 each).
Stephenson’s defense is led by a pair of linebackers in Delali Flowers (54.5 tackles, 1 sacks, 3 for loss, 2 FR) and junior Kaleb Bristow (55.5 tackles, 2 sacks, 3.5 for loss, 1 INT). Senior outside linebacker Winston Bradford has 4.5 sacks on the season.
Another key Region 6-4A matchup has the Southwest DeKalb Panthers (2-5, 0-2) playing host to Holy Innocents (4-3, 1-1) at 7:30 pm at Godfrey Stadium.
The Panthers lost a heartbreaking 22-21 decision to Hapeville last week to fall to 0-2 in the region and need a bounce back against Holy Innocents to have a shot at the state playoffs.
An all-DeKalb meeting in Region 5-2A is set for 7:30 pm at Avondale Stadium as the McNair Mustangs (3-4, 1-2) entertain the Redan Raiders (2-5, 1-2) with the winner keeping playoff hopes alive.
The other home game is Clarkston (1-5) against Druid Hills (2-4) at Adams Stadium with kickoff set for 7:30 pm.
Five DeKalb teams go on the road in games set for 7:30 pm starts on Friday including Columbia (5-2, 2-1) at Eagles Landing Christian (3-3, 2-0), Cross Keys (0-6) at Notre Dame Academy (2-6), Dunwoody (4-2, 0-1) at St. Pius (2-4, 1-0), Stone Mountain (2-4) at McDonough (2-4) and Towers (0-5-1, 0-2) at Callaway (3-3, 2-0).
Arabia Mountain (3-4), Chamblee (5-1), Lakeside (5-2), Lithonia (0-7), M.L. King (2-5) and Tucker (2-5) are all taking a week off.
DCSD FOOTBALL SCHEDULE – WEEK 9
Wednesday, Oct. 12
HALLFORD STADIUM
Douglass (3-4) vs. Cedar Grove (4-2)*, 7:00 PM
Friday, Oct. 14
ADAMS STADIUM
Clarkston (1-5) at Druid Hills (2-4), 7:30 pm
AVONDALE STADIUM
Redan (2-5, 1-2) vs. McNair (3-4, 1-2)* (HC), 7:30 pm
GODFREY STADIUM
Holy Innocents (4-3, 1-1) vs. SW DeKalb (2-5, 0-2)*(SN), 7:30 pm
HALLFORD STADIUM
Stephenson (4-2, 2-0) vs. Miller Grove (3-4, 1-1)*(HC), 7:30 pm
AWAY GAMES
Columbia (5-2, 2-1)* at Eagles Landing Christian (3-3, 2-0), 7:30 pm
Cross Keys (0-6) at Notre Dame Academy (2-6), 7:30 pm
Dunwoody (4-2, 0-1)* at St. Pius (2-4, 1-0), 7:30 pm
Stone Mountain (2-4) at McDonough (2-4), 7:30 pm
Towers (0-5-1, 0-2) at Callaway (3-3, 2-0)*, 7:30 pm
OPEN: Arabia Mountain (3-4), Chamblee (5-1), Lakeside (5-2), Lithonia (0-7), M.L. King (2-5), Tucker (2-5)
*–Region game
(HC) – Homecoming
(SN) – Senior Night