2021 DeKalb County Football Media Guide Gartrell Retires after 33 Years as a Head Coach THE HOME OF STATE CHAMPIONS https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/athletics/football/ $2.00 2021 DEKALB COUNTY FOOTBALL GUIDE DEKALB COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT 5829 Memorial Drive Stone Mountain, Georgia 30083 (678) 676 -1821 www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/athletics Directory SUPERINTENDENT Mrs. Cheryl Watson -Harris EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS James Jackson FOOTBALL COORDINATOR Mike Harwell ATHLETICS DIRECTOR Dr. Tekshia Ward -Smith ATHLETIC SPECIALIST Chris Chilton ATHLETIC SPECIALIST Mark Brock 2 DEKALB COUNTY FOOTBALL HISTORY Eight -man football and the original eight schools served as the origin of the long and proud gridiron history of DeKalb County. Druid Hills, Southwest DeKalb, Tucker and Avondale helped DeKalb County make the jump to the current 11 -man version of football in 1950, with Stone Mountain, Lithonia, Clarkston and Chamblee also in the field. Legendary DeKalb County multi -sport coach and Athletic Director Elmer Morrow de- veloped the first powerhouse at Druid Hills, guiding the Red Devils to a runner -up state finish to Valdosta and 11 -1-1 record in 1956. Such other coaching giants as Avondale’s Calvin Ramsey and Tucker’s Terry Hodges lifted DeKalb County’s state -wide status to even greater heights toward the end of the 1950s and for most of the 1960s. Avondale ranked among the powerhouse programs in the state from the mid -1950s through most of the 1980s. The Blue Devils gained state and national fame during a 13 -year stretch from 1958 -70, winning a pair of state championships and posting a 129 -12 -3 record while never losing more than one game in any of those seasons. Ramsey finished with a 167 -33 -7 record, leading Avondale to state titles in 1958 (a 13 - 13 tie against Thomasville in AA) and in a 40 -0 blanking of Moultrie in AAA in 1963. Hodges led Tucker to 10 or more wins four times from 1957 -63, highlighted by a 1963 team that went 11 -2 and lost in the state final. Lakeside and Southwest DeKalb emerged as new powers as the decade of the 1970s rolled around, and Avondale still loomed large under Crawford Kennedy’s direction. Wayman Creel, who held the distinction of being the all -time winningest coach in Geor- gia high school history upon his death in the summer of 1991, guided Lakeside to an immediate period of domination never seen before or since on the local level. Creel arrived in the spring of 1970 and proceeded to lead the Vikings to undefeated state championships that fall (13 -0) and in 1972 (14 -0). Lakeside also went 9 -1 in 1971 for a three -year run of 36 -1 that has never been matched in DeKalb County history. Southwest DeKalb claimed its first state championship in 1972, as Dewey Alverson’s talented squad knocked off Gainesville (16 -12) in the AA final to finish a 13 -1 season. Avondale returned to the head of the class in 1976, roaring to a perfect 14 -0 campaign under Kennedy that was highlighted by a 20 -19 triumph over Woodward Academy in the AA state championship contest. Redan in 1979 under Steve Shankweiler, Lakeside in 1991 under Phil Lindsey, Dun- woody in 1994 under David Kelly, Southwest DeKalb in 1995 under Buck Godfrey, Tucker in 2008 and 2011 under Franklin Stephens and Cedar Grove under Jermaine Smith in 2016 and 2018 and Miguel Patrick in 2019 claimed DeKalb’s other state titles. Southwest DeKalb’s Godfrey surpassed Kennedy (168 -88 -9) as the winningest coach in DeKalb County history and finished his career with a 273 -89 -1 record. T. McFerrin (Lithonia; Peachtree; Tucker), Dave Hunter (Peachtree), French Johnson (Chamblee), Phil Knight (Columbia; Lithonia), Ron Gartrell (Shamrock; Stephenson) and Tally Johnson (Briarcliff) are among DeKalb County’s other coaching giants. 3 2021 FOOTBALL GUIDE CONTENTS DEKALB COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT ......................................................... 5 REGION ALIGNMENTS ................................................................................... 6 DEKALB COUNTY STADIUMS ....................................................................... 7 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SIGNINGS ................................................................... 8 ARABIA MOUNTAIN ...................................................................................... 12 CEDAR GROVE ................................................................................................ 14 CHAMBLEE ...................................................................................................... 16 CLARKSTON. ................................................................................................... 18 COLUMBIA. ...................................................................................................... 20 CROSS KEYS. ................................................................................................... 22 DRUID HILLS ................................................................................................... 24 DUNWOODY .................................................................................................... 26 LAKESIDE ......................................................................................................... 28 LITHONIA ......................................................................................................... 30 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR ............................................................................ 32 MCNAIR ............................................................................................................ 34 MILLER GROVE ............................................................................................... 36 REDAN .............................................................................................................. 38 SOUTHWEST DEKALB ................................................................................... 40 STEPHENSON ................................................................................................... 42 STONE MOUNTAIN ......................................................................................... 44 TOWERS ............................................................................................................ 46 TUCKER ............................................................................................................ 48 CURRENT COLLEGE PLAYERS .................................................................... 50 CURRENT NFL PLAYERS .............................................................................. 59 ACADEMIC STANDOUTS .............................................................................. 62 ALL AMERICAN PLAYERS ........................................................................... 64 ALL CONFERENCE PLAYERS ....................................................................... 66 STATISTICS ...................................................................................................... 75 SCHOOL RECORDS ......................................................................................... 96 SCHOOL PLAYOFF RESULTS ..................................................................... 107 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS ....................................................................... 114 CAREER DEFENSIVE LEADERS ................................................................. 134 ALL -TIME SERIES RECORD ........................................................................ 135 ABOUT THE COVER The cover for the 2021 DeKalb County Football Media Guide is a pictorial sa- lute to legendary long-me head coach Ron Gartrell, who announced his re- rement following the 2020 campaign a er posng a combined 243-124 rec- ord over 33 years at Shamrock (35-46) and Stephenson (208-78). Athlec Spe- cialist Mark Brock shot the pictures that appear on the front cover. 4 STEPHENSON COACHING LEGEND RETIRES One of the true head football coaching legends in DeKalb County history announced his retirement following the 2020 -21 school year. Stephenson will be welcoming a new head coach for the first time since the school opened in the fall of 1996, as Ron Gartrell has stepped down after 25 years and 208 victories at the helm of the Jaguar program. Gartrell trailed only Southwest DeKalb’s Buck Godfrey (273) among DeKalb County coaches while registering 243 total career victories against 124 defeats over 33 cam- paigns. The Carson -Newman graduate began his head coaching career at old Shamrock High School in 1988, taking over a program that had produced losing records in six straight years, nine of the previous 10 and 13 of 15 overall. Gartrell’s first Dragon squad struggled to a 2 -8 record, but three of the next five ended up on the positive side of the .500 mark. The highlight came during the 1991 campaign, one in which Shamrock rolled to a 7 -3 regular season finish before dropping a 21 -0 decision to eventual state champion Lakeside in the first round and posting a 7 -4 final overall mark. Throw in two more winning seasons in 1992 (7 -3) and 1993 (6 -4) and Gartrell left his Shamrock position as the all -time school record holder in coaching victories (35) to go along with 46 victories. The combination of Shamrock closing and a new school opening in Stephenson led Gar- trell to move across the county a few miles for the start of the 1996 campaign. Stephenson struggled in the early years, limping to a 1 -9 finish in the inaugural cam- paign of 1996 and going 18 -22 overall in the first four seasons. Gartrell’s final 21 seasons in charge of the Jaguar gridiron fortunes,