The View from the Booth: September 27

DeKalb Stars Shine

St. Pius LB Quincy Nieporte was named to Georgia High School Football Daily’s ‘Best of the Rest’ list this week. Nieporte had seven tackles, three for losses, and recovered a fumble in the Golden Lions’ 24-0 victory over Lovett.

GHSF Daily shined the spotlight on four other DeKalb players for their performances last week:

Arabia Mountain junior QB Trevous Reynolds was 26-of-39 passing for 308 yards and one TD in a 21-20 loss to Miller Grove.

Cross Keys QB Oluwatomi Adedayo rushed for 293 yards and one TD on 26 carries in a 60-21 loss to Mount Vernon Presbyterian.

McNair QB Christian Brown was 5-of-6 passing for 247 yards and three TDs in a 33-32 victory over B.E.S.T. Academy. WR Michael Minter had three catches for 181 yards and two TDs.

Two DeKalb Rivalries Make List of Georgia’s Ten Best

AJC writer Jeff Haws this week published his list of the state’s ten top rivalries. Two DeKalb rivalries made the list.

Coming in at #6 on Haws’ list is M.L. King vs. Stephenson. Haws says “this one is enhanced by the schools being in the same region, county and pretty much always among the better teams in the state. It’s a pretty new rivalry, and they’ve split the six meetings. It may have hit its apex last year, when the Lions won an amazing 50-49 region-clinching game that had people hanging off trees outside Hallford Stadium to try to catch a glimpse of what was happening.”

This year’s matchup between the Jaguars and Lions will take place October 26 at Hallford Stadium.

Marist vs. St. Pius comes in at #9 on Haws’ list. Haws says “this one would get a much higher spot if it wasn’t, ya know, over (at least temporarily). Even with the teams not playing this year, there’s still a good deal of passion in this rivalry between Catholic schools on the same side of town. Marist dominated the series for a couple of decades, but the Lions are happily holding onto a two-game winning streak in the series for the first time since the mid 1970s.”

Click here if you want to see Haws’ complete list.

DeKalb Teams in the State Rankings

Despite a 57-0 shellacking of Dunwoody last Friday, Tucker couldn’t climb over top-ranked and idle Northside-Warner Robins in this week’s AJC poll. The Tigers retained their #2 ranking in Class AAAAA while M.L. King and Stephenson are still #3 and #4, respectively.

All three DeKalb teams are undefeated and all face region opponents this weekend. Tucker takes on Lakeside, while M.L. King plays Arabia Mountain and Stephenson squares off with SW DeKalb.

Marist (3-1) whipped Therell 53-0 last week, but all it got them was a loss of one position in the AJC Class AAAA poll. The War Eagles fell to #3 while Griffin took over the #2 spot. Marist faces Columbia this week.

In Class AAA, St. Pius X (2-1) held onto the #5 spot with their 24-0 defeat of Lovett last week.

Interestingly, Chamblee is one of 19 Georgia teams that are unbeaten, untied and UNRANKED with three or more games played.

Tucker held onto its #4 ranking in the Maxwell All-Classification Top 25 this week. Northside-Warner Robins remains #1. M.L. King and Stephenson both fell two spots in the rankings. The Lions check in at #16 this week and the Jaguars are #25.

Within their own classifications on the Maxwell list, Tucker is #2 in Class AAAAA with M.L. King #4 and Stephenson #7. Marist moved up a notch to #4 in Class AAAA while St. Pius is #5 in the Class AAA rankings.

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

3-0

4-0

d. North Atlanta 46-0

vs. Arabia Mountain

Tucker

3-0

4-0

d. Dunwoody 50-0

vs. Lakeside, Atlanta

Stephenson

3-0

3-0

d. Lakeside Atlanta 63-0

at SW DeKalb

Miller Grove

2-1

3-1

d. Arabia Mountain 21-20

vs. Dunwoody

Southwest DeKalb

2-1

3-1

d. Mays 14-7

vs. Stephenson

Lakeside

1-2

1-3

l. to Stephenson 63-0

at Tucker

Mays

1-2

1-3

l. to SW DeKalb 14-7

vs. North Atlanta

Arabia Mountain

0-3

1-3

l. to Miller Grove 21-20

at M.L. King 

Dunwoody

0-3

0-4

l. to Tucker 50-0

at Miller Grove

North Atlanta

0-3

0-4

l. to M.L. King 46-0

at Mays

Clarkston

1-4

l. to Decatur 27-7

at Hapeville Charter

Region 6-AAAA

Division A

Team

Reg.

All

Last week

This week

Chamblee

0-0

4-0

d. South Atlanta 29-7

Does not play

Marist

0-0

3-1

d. Therrell 53-0

Does not play

Columbia

0-0

2-2

l. to Carver, Atlanta 28-27

Does not play

Redan

0-0

1-3

l. to Banneker 29-7

Does not play

Stone Mountain

0-0

1-3

l. to Washington 46-18

Does not play

Lithonia

0-0

0-4

l. to Grady 21-0

Does not play

Division B

Team

Reg.

All

Last week

This week

Carver (Atlanta)

0-0

4-0

d. Columbia 28-27

Does not play

Washington

0-0

4-0

d. Stone Mountain 46-18

Does not play

Grady

0-0

3-1

d. Lithonia 21-0

Does not play

South Atlanta

0-0

3-1

l. to Chamblee 29-7

Does not play

Banneker

0-0

2-2

d. Redan 29-7

Does not play

Therrell

0-0

0-4

l. to Marist 53-0

Does not play

Region 6-AAA

Team

Reg.

All

Last week

This week

Blessed Trinity

0-0

3-1

d. White Co. 21-19

at Woodward Academy

Decatur

0-0

3-1

d. Clarkston 27-7

at Cedar Grove

McNair

0-0

3-1

d. B.E.S.T. Acad. 33-32

Does not play

St. Pius

0-0

3-1

d. Lovett 24-0

vs. Towers

Woodward Academy

0-0

3-1

d. Westminster 24-3

vs. Blessed Trinity

Cedar Grove

0-0

2-2

Did not play

vs. Decatur

Towers

0-0

0-4

l. to Douglass 14-0

at St. Pius

Cross Keys

0-3

l. to Mount Verson 60-21

at North Cobb Christian

This Week’s Games Involving DeKalb County Teams

Six DeKalb County teams are on bye this weekend. The teams that are playing, though, face off against tough region opponents. Here are highlights of Week 6 action:

Stephenson vs. SW DeKalb

Stephenson and SW DeKalb haven’t met on the football field since 2005. The Jaguars and Panthers renew their rivalry Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Hallford Stadium with both teams undefeated and contending for a playoff spot in tough Reg. 6-AAAAA.

SW DeKalb (3-1) is coming off a hard-fought 14-7 region win over Mays. The Panthers, currently 2-1 in region play, won the last meeting between the two schools 6-0 in 2005 and lead the overall series 5-3.

Stephenson, 3-0 overall and in region, destroyed Lakeside (1-3) last week 63-0. The Jaguars are the 4th-ranked Class AAAAA team in the state.

The Lions and Jaguars are both run-oriented teams. Stephenson averages 295.3 yards per game rushing, led by Evans Jones with 216 yards in three games. SW DeKalb has averaged 231.3 yards rushing in four games and is led by Robert Brice with 244 yards and Malik Wright with 211.

Stephenson is one of three teams, along with Tucker and M.L. King, tied at 3-0 for first place in region 6-AAAAA. The Jaguars face Tucker and M.L. King in the next four weeks. Southwest DeKalb is tied with Miller Grove at 2-1 for fourth place.

Tucker vs. Lakeside

It’s homecoming for the Tucker Tigers (4-0) Friday night at Adams Stadium. Their opponents: the Lakeside Vikings (1-3).

The Tigers, ranked #2 in Class AAAAA, beat Dunwoody last week 56-0 while Lakeside lost 63-0 to Stephenson.

Druid Hills vs. Lovejoy

The Druid Hills Red Devils (2-1) get their first taste of Class AAAAAA football this week as they host 2011 Class AAAA runner-up and 2012 Region 2-AAAAAA foe Lovejoy (3-1) at North DeKalb Stadium Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Reclassification saw Druid Hills move from Class AAA to Class AAAAAA this year and the Red Devils already have victories over Clarkston (33-2) and Therrell (27-6). Lovejoy has wins over Mundy’s Mill (44-6), Alpharetta (43-24) and East Coweta (30-7) on the season.

Here’s this week’s complete schedule of games involving DeKalb teams:

Friday, September 28

Arabia Mountain (1-3) vs. M.L. King (4-0), Panthersville, 7:30 p.m.

Clarkston (1-3) at Hapeville Charter (1-2), 7:30 p.m.

Cross Keys (0-3) at North Cobb Christian (1-2), 7:30 p.m.

Lovejoy (4-0) vs. Druid Hills (2-1), North DeKalb, 7:30 p.m.

Dunwoody (0-4) vs. Miller Grove (3-1), Avondale, 7:30 p.m.

Lakeside (1-3) vs. Tucker (4-0), Adams, 7:30 p.m.

Stephenson (3-0) vs. SW DeKalb (3-1), Hallford, 7:30 p.m.

Towers (0-4) at St. Pius X (3-1), 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 29

Decatur (3-1) vs. Cedar Grove (2-2), Panthersville, 7:30 p.m.

Bye: Chamblee (4-0), Columbia (2-2), Lithonia (0-4), McNair (3-1), Redan

(1-3), Stone Mountain (1-3), Marist (3-1), Grady (3-1)

Can't wait to call Tucker's homecoming game Friday night at Adams Stadium. If you're looking for a good time with a football game wrapped around it, you could do a lot worse. Whatever you do, get out and enjoy some Georgia high school football somewhere.

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.