2019 DeKalb County Football Media Guide CEDAR GROVE SAINTS 2018 GHSA CLASS 3A STATE CHAMPS THE HOME OF STATE CHAMPIONS $2.00 2019 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 and 2018 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 2019 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 2019 DeKalb County Football Media Guide is a collecon of pictures taken in celebraon of Cedar Grove’s state Class AAA championship game victory over Peach County in 2018. Athlec Specialist Mark Brock shot the pictures that appear on the front cover. 4 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’S IMPRESSIVE START No football program in DeKalb County history has ever hit the ground running at a fast- er pace than the Martin Luther King Jr. Lions. An inauspicious 3 -7 debut season in 2002 was followed by a 10 -year explosion that has never been matched before or since. Despite featuring four different head coaches in that time period, Martin Luther King Jr. still managed to post winning records in all 10 campaigns. The Lions, in fact, reached double figures in victories in an amazing seven of those 10 years, adding up to an overall run of 102 -22. Lakeside is the only other school to approach that mark, having gone 97 -18 -1 from 1966 -75, winning two state championships and finishing second on a third trip to the final under legendary head coach Wayman Creel . Ron Gartrell ’s Stephenson Jaguars also enjoyed a strong early 10 -year run, going 88 - 31 with five double digit victory seasons and one trip to as far as the state semifinals in 2005. Kenneth Barrow got the ball rolling for Martin Luther King Jr, leading the Lions to consecutive showings of 11 -2 in 2003 and 11 -3 in 2004. Barrow’s three -year record as head coach of the Lions worked out to 25 -12. Corey Jarvis came aboard from an assistant position at Mary Persons in 2005 and proceeded to guide the Lions through a glorious march of 49 -11. Jarvis took Martin Luther King Jr. by the reigns and elevated the football program to an even higher level, reaching the postseason all five years he was there from 2003 -07. The Lions reached at least the second round of the playoffs in 2005 (9 -3), 2006 (10 -2), 2007 (12 -1) and 2009 (10 -2), only falling short in an otherwise impressive 8-3 cam- paign in 2008. Mike Carson moved over from Avondale and replaced Jarvis in 2010, leading Martin Luther King Jr. to consecutive stellar showings of 8 -4 in 2010 and 12 -1 and the state quarterfinals in 2011. Carson left after the 2011 campaign and was replaced by Rober Freeman , who skip- pered