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Football

Lithonia defeats Stephenson 12-8 for Trail to the Title championship

The Lithonia Bulldogs concluded an improbable run to the Trail to the Title middle school football championship with a 12-8 victory over defending champion Stephenson Jaguars. A big fourth-and-goal stop of Stephenson quarterback Xavier Shepard by the...

M.L. King, Stephenson face off in big regional matchup

The Region 6-AAAAA champion title will be on the line Oct. 26 when the Martin Luther King Jr. Lions play region rivals Stephenson Jaguars at Hallford Stadium. The game is a must-win for the Jaguars, who hope to stay in the race for the region title. ...

Dallas Rivers leads Tucker running backs in total yards and touchdowns

Dallas Rivers (25) takes a hard hit and still scores a touchdown. Photo by Travis Hudgons
The Tucker football program is known for producing great running backs and this year is no different. The Tigers have five players with more than 150 yards each on the season, including quarterback Jawann Williams. Running backs Dallas Rivers and Yus...

Football: Stephenson, Tucker to clash in first regular season game

The No. 4-ranked Stephenson Jaguars, top image, (4-0) and No. 2-ranked Tucker Tigers (5-0) will face off in a much-anticipated region 6-AAAAA battle at Hallford Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Photos by Travis Hudgons
Two of DeKalb County’s top football program will face each other for the first time in a regular season game Oct. 12. The No. 4-ranked Stephenson Jaguars (4-0) and No. 2-ranked Tucker Tigers (5-0) will face off in a much-anticipated region 6-AAAAA ...

McCrary passes for over 300 yards in win against Decatur

Cedar Grove quarterback Johnathon McCrary throws a touchdown pass against Decatur. Photo by Travis Hudgons
Cedar Grove Saints quarterback Johnathon McCrary put on a passing clinic in the Saints’ 42-21 win over the Decatur Bulldogs Sept. 29. McCrary passed for 365 yards and five touchdowns on 20 out of 25 pass attempts. He also had two interceptions. Ce...

St. Pius X blanks Lovett in battle of Lions

St. Pius’ Jack Pelt (22) tries to evade Lovett’s Jack McGranahan (8) in the battle of the two state-ranked Lions Sept. 21. St. Pius won the matchup 24-0. Photo by David DiCristina
by Wade Marbaugh In a showdown between state-ranked high school teams, the St. Pius X Golden Lions proved more golden than the Lovett Lions. Ryan Braswell scored two touchdowns and Jack Spear and Thomas O’Leary added six points apiece as the St. Pi...

MLK Lions shut out Southwest DeKalb Panthers in rival game

MLK’s Jaquise Williams runs past a SW DeKalb defender. Photo by Travis Hudgons
The Martin Luther King Lions earned bragging rights Sept. 8 after defeating neighborhood rival Southwest DeKalb Panthers. The No. 4 Lions shut out the Panthers 18-0 in front of a packed Hallford Stadium. M.L. King head coach Rober Freeman said beatin...

Sexting allegation sidelines coach

A DeKalb County high school football coach has been sidelined after being accused of sexting a parent. Head Coach Michael Carson, of Martin Luther King High School, was suspended Aug. 21 pending the outcome of an ethics investigation into the allegat...

Legendary Godfrey begins 30th season at SW DeKalb

Southwest DeKalb head coach Buck Godfrey, running drills in practice last week, has served as a role model for hundreds of players. Photo by Wade Marbaugh
by Wade Marbaugh   It is a milestone in various realms, such as a 30th birthday or 30th year on the job, which often foreshadows a wristwatch and retirement. Don’t talk retirement as DeKalb County’s winningest football coach, Buck Godfrey, begin...

Led by quarterback McCrary, Cedar Grove looks back for bright future

Jonathan McCrary (2) is flanked by his teammates at DeKalb County’s high school football media day. Photo by Travis Hudgons
  It’s the stuff of Friday Night Lights dreams. Down five points, seconds left, game on the line, 40 yards from the end zone, and one play to make it happen. In DeKalb, the safest hands in that situation belong to quarterback Jonathan McCrary, who...

Stephenson preparing for season opening Gridiron Challenge

The Stephenson Jaguars step onto the national stage to open the 2012 high school football season as they take on Pine Forest High School of Pensacola, Fla., in the second of three games in the National High School Gridiron Challenge hosted by North G...

DeKalb coaches schedule around new heat policy

The Georgia High School Association’s new heat-acclimatization policy, adopted in March, requires all football players to build up tolerance to high temperatures by working out in shorts and helmets for five days before donning full pads. Three-a-d...

Marketing an important part of recruiting process

Joshua Outlaw had more than 20 college football scholarship offers before verbally committing to the University of Florida in April. M.L. King teammate Jeremy Tyler, a linebacker, has yet to decide among nearly two dozen scholarship offers. Wide rece...

Waggoner hired to rebuild football tradition at Decatur

Brad Waggoner. Photo by Robert Naddra
Decatur High School athletic director Carter Wilson, who recently was looking for a new head football coach, found someone with a similar vision for the program. Brad Waggoner replaces Price Jones, who stepped down at the end of last season. Jones wa...

Tucker football coach takes job at Lamar County

Tucker football coach Franklin Stephens. Photos by Travis Hudgons
Tucker coach Franklin Stephens has taken the head coaching job at Lamar County in Barnesville, south of Atlanta. Lamar County had its best season in school history last season at 12-1 and has qualified for the state playoffs three straight years. Ste...

Henry County football coach hired at Lakeside

Lakeside and Chamblee recently hired two new head football coaches. Former Henry County head coach Mike Rozier replaces interim coach Marcus Mitchell at Lakeside. Rozier spent 11 seasons at Henry County where he compiled a 51-67 record. However, he l...

Four schools searching for football coaches

Four schools in DeKalb County are in the process of filling football coaching vacancies. Columbia’s Mario Allen was named head football coach at Rockdale County on Feb. 10 and Clinton Lawrence at Redan resigned a few weeks ago, according to Mark Br...

Stanford’s journey highlights M.L. King’s recruiting class

M.L. King's signees prepare for a group photo on National Signing Day. Photo by Robert Naddra
Two years ago Joshua Stanford was playing high school football in his hometown of Mississauga Valley, Ontario in Canada. Less than two weeks ago Stanford was one of 23 M.L. King football players who signed football scholarships. It was a journey, he ...

Championship diary: Long day ends with state title for Tucker

Dec. 9 began like any other day for Tucker High School’s football team. Players and coaches went to school early in the morning, but 16 hours later the team could claim a distinction no other team in school history could claim.  Shortly after 11 p...

Tucker defeats Lovejoy 22-7 to win football state title

  Tucker coach Franklin Stephens last week refused to compare his 2008 state championship team with this year's team. However, Stephens changed his mind after Tucker's dominating 22-7 win over Lovejoy in the Class AAAA state championship g...

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