The View from the Booth: September 16

Double-headers make for long evenings for stadium announcers, and Friday night at Adams Stadium was no exception. The early game was Cross Keys taking on Hebron Christian Academy and it was an even longer night for the Indians than it was for me. You always hate to see any team lose 60-0 as the Indians did to the Lions, but Cross Keys was just never able to get anything going against a tough Hebron Christian defense. Looks like it’ll be another long season for David Radford’s team.

The second game was more competitive with top-ranked Tucker hosting a feisty Arabia Mountain team with a 17-game winning streak on the line. The Rams, behind impressive junior QB Trevous Reynolds, scored first and made it competitive into the second half, but in the end there was just too much Tucker. Despite not having Yusuf Minor in the line-up, the remaining Tiger RBs – Dallas Rivers, Joseph Farrar and Dominick Sanders – were more than enough and Tucker ground out a 39-20 win.

Tucker is 3-0 on the season, has won 18 consecutive games and will surely be the #1 Class AAAAA team in the state when this week’s GHSA rankings come out. The Tigers are set to play Dunwoody Friday night at North DeKalb Stadium (and rumor has it the game will be played there as scheduled, despite recent turf problems at the stadium.)

Arabia Mountain falls to 1-2 on the season. The Rams play Miller Grove at Panthersville on Friday.

Special thanks to Tucker fan and good friend Carie Cato for snapping the photo of me in the Adams Stadium press box that accompanies this post. I’m not normally a fan of pictures taken of me but I kind of like this one.

Here are some highlights of other games from this weekend involving DeKalb teams followed by a complete list of this weekend’s scores.

SW DeKalb vs. Lakeside

The Panthers' running attack was just too much for visiting Lakeside (1-2) and SW DeKalb (2-1) came out on top 46-21. Clayton Davenport carried only seven times but gained 150 yards and scored two TDs. Robert Brice racked up 165 yards on 12 rushes and also scored twice. SW DeKalb’s Justin Mincy opened the second half scoring with an 80-yard TD reception.

Marist vs. Lovett

Marist (2-1) came from behind in Buckhead to defeat Lovett (2-1) 24-16. It was the first meeting between the two traditional Atlanta powerhouse programs.

The visiting War Eagles overcame a 16-7 halftime deficit, outscoring Lovett 17-0 in the second half. Lions quarterback Willie Candler completed 18-of-26 passes for 279 yards and two TDs: an 86-yard scoring pass to Grant Haley to open the scoring and a 51-yard strike to Craig Rollins in the second quarter.

For Marist, quarterback Myles Willis rushed for 140 yards and a 9-yard score in the second quarter while Gray King scored on a 72-yard reception and a 1-yard lunge in the third to give Marist its first lead. Fletcher Malloy closed out the scoring with a 23-yard fourth quarter FG.

Decatur vs. Greenville

Andrew Brown caught the game-winning TD pass from Devontae Carter as the host Bulldogs edged Greenville 20-19. Brown accounted for all three TDs, two on the ground, while Carter completed 20 of 22 passes for 175 yards. Decatur improved to 2-1 on the season, while Greenville took its first loss of the year.

St. Pius X vs. Thomson

The host Bulldogs pulled off yet another big win over a top program as they shocked the Golden Lions (2-1) 21-14 behind three rushing TDs from a trio players. Chris Jordan led the way with 142 yards on 15 carries to go along with one TD. Thomson (3-0) intercepted a Jack Spear pass with less than two minutes to play to seal the win.

Clarkston vs. Towers

The host Angoras (1-2) got three TDs from RB Khalif Harper and defeated Towers (0-3) 34-6. Running out of the wildcat formation, Harper rushed for a pair of TDs and threw for one. His TD pass was a 15-yard completion to wide receiver Laquan Odom.

Jerrod Carter recovered four fumbles for Clarkston.

Stone Mountain vs. Wesleyan

Jahmani Jones caught TD passes of 45, 37 and 29 yards in the third quarter and finished with 134 total receiving yards to help Wesleyan (2-1) surge past Stone Mountain 30-19. QB Will Anderson had 164 of his 179 passing yards in the second half, almost all from precision throws that gave his receivers a good chance to keep running after the catch.

Trailing 23-13, Stone Mountain (1-2) nearly got back into the game early in the fourth quarter when Anthony Walker stripped the ball from Wesleyan’s Miles Smith and returned it untouched 84 yards for an apparent TD. But a block-in-the-back penalty brought the ball all the way back to the Stone Mountain 15-yard line. The drive ended in an interception, and the Pirates couldn’t recover from there.

Thursday

Chamblee (3-0) 27, Greater Atlanta Christian (3-1) 24 OT

Friday

Clarkston (1-2) 34, Towers (0-3) 6

Hebron Christian (1-1) 60, Cross Keys (0-3) 0

McNair (2-1) 8, Douglass (0-3) 6

Wesleyan (2-1) 30, Stone Mountain (1-2) 19

SW DeKalb (2-1) 46, Lakeside (1-2) 21

Marist (2-1) 24, Lovett (2-1) 16

Thomson (3-0) 21, St. Pius X (2-1) 14

Stockbridge (2-1) 34, Columbia (2-1) 8

Decatur (2-1) 19, Greenville (2-1) 19

M.L. King (3-0) 29, Mays (1-2) 23

Tucker (3-0) 39, Arabia Mountain (1-2) 20

Riverdale (3-0) 28, Grady (2-1) 14

Saturday

Cedar Grove (2-2) 19, Redan (1-2) 0

Druid Hills (2-1) 27, Therrell (0-3) 6

Stephenson (2-0) 40, Dunwoody (0-3) 7

Miller Grove (2-1) 41, North Atlanta (0-3) 13

Open: Lithonia (0-3)

Check back on Thursday for a preview of this week’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.