The View from the Booth: October 4

Clarkston Kicker’s 52-Yard FG Good Enough for Tie for 5th Best in County History

Sophomore place kicker Santino Jerke moved into a tie for the fifth longest field goal in DeKalb County history with his 52-yard kick last Friday night in a 16-14 win over Hapeville Charter.

Jerke moves into a tie with Ron Rice of Lithonia (1979), Redan’s Kevin Butler (1979, 1980) and Chris Gardocki (1985, twice) and Stone Mountain’s Kanon Parkman (1990) with 52-yard field goals to their credit.

The kick moves Jerke into first place all-time at Clarkston surpassing a long of 47 yards by Tim Hardaway in 1994.

Gardocki (1987) and Parkman (1990) are tied for the longest field goal for a DeKalb school at 57 yards.

Dunwoody’s Austin Copper is in second with a distance of 56 yards (1996) and Rice is third with a long of 54 yards.

The fourth place group all hit from 53 yards. That group includes Gardocki (1987), David Moffett of Redan (1981, 1982) and Jon Harper of Tucker (1993).

Six DeKalb Players Make List of State’s Best Junior Players

Fletcher Proctor of SCORE High School Sports Newsletter came out with the first installment of his list of the state’s most dominant junior players and a half dozen players from DeKalb schools made the list. In no particular order, the players are:

Nick Glass, CB, St. Pius X

Kendall Baker, OT, Marist

Dallas Rivers, RB, Tucker

Bryson Allen-Williams, DE, Cedar Grove

Wesley Green, CB, M.L. King

Nick Ruffin, DB, St. Pius X

Three DeKalb Teams with Stingy Defenses

Georgia High School Football Daily this week published a list of the teams giving up the fewest point per game (PPG), by classification.

In Class AAAAA, only East Paulding’s defense was harder to score on than M.L. King’s. The Raiders give up 3.4 PPG while the Lions 5.8 PPG is good enough for second place. Stephenson is #5, coughing up a meager 6.3 PPG. 

St. Pius’s defense, surrendering only 8.8 PPG, is third stingiest in Class AAA.

DeKalb Teams in the State Rankings

Georgia High School Football Daily this week provided composite rankings of the state’s best teams based on a consensus of five separate polls: AJC/GHSF Daily; AP/Georgia Sportswriters Association; GPB; MaxPreps; and Maxwell Ratings.

In Class AAAAA, Northside-Warner Robins (4-0) holds onto the top spot after their 56-0 drubbing of Lakeside-Evans last week but the next three spots belong to DeKalb County. Northside plays Houston County (2-2) this week.

Nipping at Northside’s heels are the Tucker Tigers (5-0). Tucker held onto the #2 spot after their 67-7 defeat of Lakeside-DeKalb last week. Tucker next plays on October 12 against Reg. 6-AAAAA rival Stephenson (4-0).

M.L. King defeated Arabia Mountain 24-6 last week and that win was good enough to help the Lions hold onto their #3 ranking. M.L. King takes on winless Dunwoody on October 11.

And speaking of Stephenson, the Jaguars hold onto their #4 ranking after they defeated county rival SW DeKalb 32-0 last week. As mentioned above, the Jags have an October 12 date with Tucker to look forward to.

In Class AAAA, Marist (3-1) is tied with Burke County (4-1) for #2 in the composite poll. The War Eagles were off last week. They play Columbia (2-2) at Adams Stadium this Friday night.

Grady (3-1) is tied with Baldwin for 11th in the composite poll. The Grey Knights were off last week and take on Therell (0-4) at Lakewood Stadium Friday night.

In Class AAA, St. Pius (4-1) is ranked #5 in the composite poll. The Golden Lions cruised past Towers 48-6 last week and take on McNair at Avondale Stadium this Friday. 

Unbeaten, Untied, Unranked

There are a dozen teams in Georgia that have neither lost nor tied a game, yet still don’t appear in the AJC rankings. Chamblee is one of them.

The Bulldogs made what seemed like an odd offseason hire by picking Allen Johnson, a Chamblee teacher and alumnus who had been out of coaching for two seasons, as head coach. The results so far have been impressive.

Chamblee’s top player this season is Florida State commit LB Davin Bellamy, who has a team-leading six tackles for losses. Bellamy has also caught two TD passes. RB Desmin Reid (46 carries for 222 yards and 6 TDs), QB Jordan Branch (609 yards passing, seven TDs) and WR Desmond Noird (246 yards receiving, two TDs) are the primary weapons on offense.

The Bulldogs’ only remaining opponent with a winning record is region rival Marist. That game is scheduled for Nov. 2.

Region Standings

Here are the current standings for Reg. 6-AAAAA, Reg. 6-AAAA and Reg. 6-AAA:

Region 6-AAAAA

Team

Reg.

All

Last week

This week

M.L. King

4-0

5-0

d. Arabia Mountain 24-6

Does not play

Tucker

4-0

5-0

d. Lakeside, Atlanta 67-7

Does not play

Stephenson

4-0

4-0

d. SW DeKalb 32-0

Does not play

Miller Grove

3-1

4-1

d. Dunwoody 27-7

Does not play

Southwest DeKalb

2-2

3-2

l. to Stephenson 32-0

Does not play

Mays

2-2

2-3

d. North Atlanta 32-10

Does not play

Lakeside (Atlanta)

1-3

1-4

l. to Tucker 67-7

Does not play

Arabia Mountain

0-4

1-4

l. to M.L. King 24-6

Does not play

Dunwoody

0-4

0-5

l. to Miller Grove 27-7

Does not play

North Atlanta

0-4

0-5

l. to Mays 32-10

Does not play

Clarkston

N/A 

2-4

d. Hapeville Charter 16-14

Does not play

Region 6-AAAA

Division A

Team

Reg.

All

Last week

This week

Chamblee

0-0

4-0

Did not play

vs. Redan

Marist

0-0

3-1

Did not play

at Columbia

Columbia

0-0

2-2

Did not play

vs. Marist

Redan

0-0

1-3

Did not play

at Chamblee

Stone Mountain

0-0

1-3

Did not play

at Lithonia

Lithonia

0-0

0-4

Did not play

vs. Stone Mountain

Division B

Team

Reg.

All

Last week

This week

Carver (Atlanta)

0-0

4-0

Did not play

vs. Benneker

Washington

0-0

4-0

Did not play

vs. South Atlanta

Grady

0-0

3-1

Did not play

at Therrell

South Atlanta

0-0

3-1

Did not play

at Washington

Banneker

0-0

2-2

Did not play

at Carver (Atlanta)

Therrell

0-0

0-4

Did not play

vs. Grady

Region 6-AAA

Team

Reg.

All

Last week

This week

Blessed Trinity

1-0

4-1

d. Woodward Acad. 21-14

Does not play

St. Pius

1-0

4-1

d. Towers 48-6

at McNair

Cedar Grove

1-0

3-2

d. Decatur 42-21

at Towers

McNair

0-0

3-1

Did not play

vs. St. Pius

Decatur

0-1

3-2

l. to Cedar Grove 42-21

vs. Woodward Academy

Woodward Academy

0-1

3-2

l. to Blessed Trinity 21-14

at Decatur

Towers

0-1

0-5

l. to St. Pius 48-6

vs. Cedar Grove

Cross Keys

N/A 

0-4

l. to N. Cobb Christ. 47-7

at St. Francis

This Week's Games Involving DeKalb Teams

It’s a fairly light schedule of high school football action in DeKalb County this week as nine teams take their bye weeks. There are games Friday night at all five DeKalb stadiums but no Thursday or Saturday action this week.

Undefeated Chamblee (4-0) tries to keep its winning ways going as the Bulldogs host Region 6-AAAA foe Redan (1-3) at North DeKalb Stadium Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs haven’t been 5-0 since 2007 when they started the season 7-0 and made the Class AAA semifinals. Redan needs to pull the big upset to get their first win in region play. Both teams were off last week.

Towers (0-5) entertains Cedar Grove (3-2) in a Region 6-AAA match up at Hallford Stadium Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Saints are coming off a 42-21 whipping of Decatur in their region opener while Towers lost 48-6 last week to St. Pius X.

Also in Reg. 6-AAAA play, Columbia (2-2) hosts No. 4 ranked Marist (3-1) at Adams Stadium Friday at 7:30 p.m. According to GHSFA.com, the War Eagles are 9-1 all-time against Columbia. Both teams were off last week and are looking to start region play with a win.

Druid Hills (2-2) travels to winless Luella (0-5) as the Red Devils try to even up their Reg. 2-AAAAA record at 1-1 after a 58-3 devastation at the hands of ranked Lovejoy last week.

Lithonia (0-4) and Stone Mountain (1-3) open Reg. 6-AAAA play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Panthersville Stadium. Both teams suffered losses two weeks ago before their open dates last week.

Here’s the complete schedule of games involving DeKalb teams:

Friday, October 5

Grady (3-1) at Therrell (0-4), Lakewood, 5:30 p.m.

Cedar Grove (3-2) vs. Towers (0-5), Hallford, 7:30 p.m.

Redan (1-3) vs. Chamblee (4-0), North DeKalb, 7:30 p.m.

Marist (3-1) vs. Columbia (2-2), Adams, 7:30 p.m.

Cross Keys (0-4) at St. Francis (1-4), 7:30 p.m.

Druid Hills (2-2) at Luella (0-5), 7:30 p.m.

Stone Mountain (1-3) vs. Lithonia (0-4), Panthersville, 7:30 p.m.

St. Pius (4-1) vs. McNair (3-1), Avondale, 7:30 p.m.

Decatur (3-2) vs. Woodward Academy (3-2), Decatur, 7:30 p.m.

Bye: Arabia Mountain (1-4), Clarkston (2-4), Dunwoody (0-5), Lakeside (1-4), M.L. King (5-0), Miller Grove (4-1), Southwest DeKalb (3-2), Stephenson (4-0), Tucker (5-0)

Check back Sunday for results and recaps.

John Becker is a 30-year Atlanta resident, currently living in Virginia-Highland. John’s a freelance writer and an avid high school, college and pro football fan (much to the detriment of most other productive activities during the fall). As the Voice of Adams Stadium (public address announcer), John brings a unique perspective to his analysis of high school football in DeKalb County and he looks forward to sharing his insight with fans through his blog.

The writer can be reached at jnbecker@me.com or followed on Twitter at @JNBecker.