The View from the Booth: October 8

Sorry for being a day late in getting this post up. I had a busy weekend with family in town. Being late has its advantages, though, as it gave me a chance to peek at this week’s AJC/GHSA state rankings before making my post.

As expected, Tucker, M.L. King and Stephenson – all idle last week – held onto the #2, 3, and 4 spots (respectively) in the Class AAAAA poll. Tucker and Stephenson play each other for the first time ever Friday night at Hallford Stadium in what should be one of the most entertaining showdowns of the 2012 season. M.L. King takes on winless Dunwoody.

After shutting out Columbia Friday night, Marist held onto their #2 ranking in Class AAAA. The War Eagles play Lithonia (1-4) Friday night.

St. Pius is still #5 in Class AAA following their 34-0 defeat of McNair Friday night. The Golden Lions are off this before taking on Cedar Grove (4-2) on October 19. Undefeated, untied Chamblee is still nowhere to be found in the poll. What’s up with that??

Week 7 Results and Recaps

Chamblee 21, Redan 7: The Chamblee Bulldogs stayed undefeated on the season with a 21-7 victory over Redan Friday night at North DeKalb Stadium.

Chamblee, under first-year head coach Allen Johnson, moved to 5-0 on the season for the first time since their Class AAA playoff semifinal run in 2007.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 14-0 and held on for the win with three rushing TDs, including Dezmin Reid’s seventh rushing TD of the season.

Trailing 21-7 in the fourth quarter, The Raiders drove to Chamblee’s three yard line, but the Bulldog defense rose up and kept Redan (1-4) from scoring.

Chamblee is 1-0 in Region 6-AAAA play.

Marist 16, Columbia 0: The Columbia Eagles (2-3) battled the No. 2 ranked Marist War Eagles toe-to-toe before falling 16-0. Columbia held Marist (4-1) to a lone field goal in the second half.

The Eagles had an opportunity to pull within six points following a 92-yard kickoff return by Sederick Jefferson to open the second half. But Marist’s defense was able to force Columbia to turn the ball over on downs to preserve the 13-0 victory.

St. Pius 34, McNair 0: The Golden Lions outgained the visiting McNair Panthers 312 yards to 73 yards. Golden Lions RB Ryan Braswell rushed 20 times for 91 yards and three TDs. His 91 yards were part of St. Pius' 242 total rushing yards on the night. St. Pius quarterback Jack Spear threw for 70 yards and one TD.

Luella 49, Druid Hills 7: Jared Hendricks threw TD passes to Mannie Lowery and Trae Bonner, who also had a rushing score in host Luella's blowout win. Gabe Smith also scored twice, getting a rushing score and a fumble return TD on defense. Kicker Andrew Roberts set a school record with seven extra points.

Woodward Academy 33, Decatur 14: Quarterback Terry Googer rushed for three TDs and threw for another for visiting Woodward Academy. Googer completed a scoring pass to Benji Russel for 37 yards and also had rushing scores of 4, 5 and 1 yards. The War Eagles outscored Decatur 16-0 in the second half.

Lithonia 34, Stone Mountain 20: The Lithonia Bulldogs got into the win column with a 34-20 victory over the Stone Mountain Pirates. Lithonia (1-4) opens Region 6-AAAA action with a 1-0 record following the victory while Stone Mountain fell to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the region.

Here’s a complete list of the results from this weekend for DeKalb County teams:

Friday

Cedar Grove (4-2) 66, Towers (0-6) 6

Chamblee (5-0) 21, Redan (1-4) 7

Marist (4-1) 16, Columbia (2-3) 0

St. Francis (2-4) 48, Cross Keys (0-5) 24

Luella (1-5) 49, Druid Hills (2-3) 7

Lithonia (1-4) 34, Stone Mountain (1-4) 20

St. Pius (5-1) 34, McNair (3-2) 0

Open: 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 Thursday for a preview of this weekend’s games. Have a fantastic week, everyone!

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.