2018 DeKalb County Football Media Guide The The Voices DeKalb of County Football THE HOME OF STATE CHAMPIONS $2.00 2018 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 Dr. R. Stephen Green 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 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 2018 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 .............................................................................. 63 ACADEMIC STANDOUTS .............................................................................. 67 ALL AMERICAN PLAYERS ........................................................................... 69 ALL CONFERENCE PLAYERS ....................................................................... 71 STATISTICS ...................................................................................................... 80 SCHOOL RECORDS ......................................................................................... 98 SCHOOL PLAYOFF RESULTS ..................................................................... 109 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS ....................................................................... 115 ALL -TIME SERIES RECORD ........................................................................ 139 ABOUT THE COVER The cover for the 2018 DeKalb County Football Media Guide is a collecon of pictures to recognize the dedicaon of the public address announcers for var- sity football games at DeKalb County’s five public school stadiums. Athlec Specialist Mark Brock shot the pictures that appear on the front cover. 4 KENNEDY MAINTAINS WINNING WAYS AT AVONDALE DeKalb County has produced a long line of accomplis hed head football coaches since the 11 -man version of the game first appeared on the local level in 1950. Starting with the illustrious Calvin Ramsey (Avondale), Elmer Morrow (Druid Hills) and Terry Hodges (Tucker) in the 1950s and continuing all the way up the modern era with Buck Godfrey (Southwest DeKalb) and Ron Gartrell (Shamrock; Stephenson), the list of head coaching giants ranks with any in the state. Wayman Creel (Lakeside), T. McFerrin (Lithonia; Peachtree; Tucker), Dewey Alverson (Southwest DeKalb), Phil Lindsey (Lakeside; Tucker), French Johnson (Chamblee), Dave Hunter (Peachtree), Phil Knight (Columbia; Lithonia), Tommy Stringer (Druid Hills; Clarkston), Talley Johnson (Briarcliff), Franklin Stephens (Tucker) and Keith Maloof (Tucker) are some other top names that come to mind. Ramsey’s names is still immortalized on the Avondale Stadium field where he put up the eye -popping 167 -33 -7 record he produced as head coach there from 1951 -69. The Blue Devils claimed state championships in 1958 and 1963 and also finished sec- ond in 1960 and 1964 while never losing more than one game in any season in Ram- sey’s final 12 years from 1958 -69. Many people thought the era of Avondale dominance may end when Ramsey stepped down as head coach following the 1969 season, but his successor did just fine. Crawford Kennedy moved over from a six -year tenure as head coach at Druid Hills and proceeded to keep the Blue Devils among the elite for most of the next 19 seasons. The first 10 years of Kennedy’s reign, in fact, produced numbers that were almost as impressive as Ramsey’s, as Avondale went 88 -22 -2 from 1970 -79. Five of those teams qualified for the playoffs, highlighted by a pair of appearances in state championship contests in 1971 and 1976. The 1971 team was a powerful one that breezed past rival Columbia (15 -14), Henderson (10 -8) and Forest Park (19