DeKalb Schools Football: Thursday Night Recap

The Class AAAA No. 1 ranked Tucker Tigers shut down the Southwest DeKalb Panthers in the second half to pull away to an 18-7 victory in a Region 6-AAAA opener at Hallford Stadium on Thursday night.

The game, televised by WBS as part of its Thursday Night Football package, was a defensive struggle throughout as the two teams had to come up with some big plays to score.

Tucker (1-0) jumped out to a 3-0 as linebacker Jacob Sealand (committed to Vanderbilt) recovered a Panther fumble at the Southwest 14. The Panthers defense held and forced a 21-yard field goal by Steven Duffy for the Tigers 3-0 lead.

The Tiger defense came up big by forcing the Panthers to punt from their own nine to get the football at the Southwest 36. Southwest was again tough on defense forcing the Tigers go for it on fourth and nine at the 25.

Tucker then went to its bag of tricks as Rondell Simmons ran to the left, but pitched to Dominic Sanders on a reverse. Sanders pulled up and found a streaking Yusuf Minor at the goal line for the touchdown with 4:43 to play in the half. The point after try was no good for a 9-0 Tucker advantage.

Southwest (0-1) came back using a 22-yard gain on a fake punt to get
inside Tucker territory for the first time. The Tigers were flagged for
pass interference to set up the Panthers at the Tiger 32. Toran Davis then sprang lose around the left end for a 32-yard touchdown run. Marvin Ellis tacked on the extra point to pull the Panthers within 9-7 with 1:08 to play.

Tucker could not come up with a short kick on the kickoff and the Panthers gathered in the ball for a first town at the Tucker 26. Tucker’s Joseph Rush got to Panther quarterback Jalil Young for a 13-yard loss on a sack to end the threat.

The teams came out of the locker room and continued to battle defensively and when a bad snap on a punt attempt turned into a safety for Tucker with 1:48 to play in the third quarter the game was still tight with the Tigers up 11-7.

Tucker took the ensuing free kick and drove 52-yards in 11 plays which was capped by a Juwaan Williams 12-yard pass to Josh Dawson (Vanderbilt commit as well) for the touchdown. Duffy tacked on the point after for the final of 18-7.

Tucker moves on to take on another Region 6-AAAA rival as the Tigers host Marist next Friday night at Adams Stadium. Southwest DeKalb plays host to Carver-Atlanta in a 7:30 game at Hallford next Friday.

Clarkston 7, Therrell 6
Clarkston senior Cepeda Glover intercepted two passes on consecutive plays from scrimmage in the final two minutes to rally and seal the Angora’s 7-6 victory over Therrell at Adams Stadium on Thursday night.

Glover’s heroics gave Clarkston first-year coach Gary Wansley a victory in his debut and the Angoras a win on opening night. Clarkston won its only game of the year in Week 9 last season with a victory over Cross Keys.

Therrell was up 6-0 in the first half and was holding that lead when a
drive threatened to put the game away early in the fourth quarter as the Angoras found themselves backed up on their own two-yard line. Clarkston’s defense held and took the ball over on downs to keep the score 6-0.

The game was still 6-0 in favor of Therrel when with just over two minutes to play Glover stepped in front of pass and raced 30 yards for the touchdown. Francisco Hernandez hit the point after to put the Angoras up 7-6.

Glover then sealed the win on the very next play as he intercepted again. Clarkston (1-0) travels to Morgan County next Friday night.

Week 2 Results
Thursday, Aug. 25
Clarkston (1-0) 7, Therrell (0-1) 6
Tucker (1-0) 18, SW DeKalb (0-1) 7

Week 2 Schedule
Friday, Aug. 26
Mt. Pisgah (0-0) vs. Cross Keys (0-0), Adams, 5:15 p.m.
Arabia Mountain (0-0) at North Oconee (0-0), 7:30 p.m.
Veterans (0-0) vs. Cedar Grove (0-0), Panthersville, 7:30 p.m.
Greater Atlanta Christian (0-0) vs. Columbia (0-0), Avondale, 7:30 p.m.
Mays (0-0) vs. Dunwoody (0-0), North DeKalb, 7:30 p.m.
Parkview (0-0) vs. Stephenson (0-0), Hallford, 7:30 p.m. (Comcast on Demand)
Towers (0-0) at Central Macon (0-0), 7:30 p.m.
Westside-Macon (0-0) vs. Stone Mountain (1-0), Adams, 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 20
Redan (0-0) vs. Lithonia (0-0), Hallford, 4:30 p.m.
Chamblee (0-0) vs. Carver-Atl (0-0), Grady, 7:30 p.m.
Lakeside (0-0) vs. Miller Grove (0-0), Avondale, 7:30 p.m.
Grady (0-0) vs. McNair (0-0), Hallford, 7:30 p.m.

Open: Druid Hills, M.L. King


Mark Brock is the Athletics Statistician and Information Officer for
DeKalb County Schools Athletics.