By Mark Brock
DCSC Athletics Specialist
DEKALB COUNTY, GA—Redan High School’s Treshon Bell raced 65 yards around the left end for a touchdown on the first play of the game as the Redan Raiders got a quick start on the way to a 41-9 season opening win over the Stone Mountain Pirates at Adams Stadium on Thursday night, Aug. 14.
Justin Davis capped Bell’s run with the PAT for a 7-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game.
Stone Mountain recovered a muffed punt after the Pirates opening drive stalled to set up the first score of the night. Paskali Sunday put Stone Mountain on the board with a 27-yard field goal to close the gap to 7-3. It would be as close as the Pirates would get the rest of the way.
Redan scored 22 unanswered points to take a 29-3 lead into the half. A pick-six by Xavier Ivey (Davis PAT) and an intentional safety taken by the Pirates upped the lead to 16-3 with 8:43 left in the first half.
Touchdown runs by Nalahji Omeily (3 yards) and Fredrick Johnson (12 yards) sent the Raiders into the half with the 26-point advantage.
An interception by Stone Mountain’s Armond Coverson ended a drive for the Raiders and turned into six points for the Pirates. When starting quarterback Braydon Surprisse exited due to an injury timeout, Santonio Hunter stepped in and threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Warren Melvin with 6:00 left on the third quarter clock.
Leading 29-9, the Raider answered with a 31-yard touchdown run by Johnson (7 carries, 101 yards, 2 TDs) to up the margin to 35-9 after the Pirates blocked their second PAT of the game. Redan tacked on a Chase Truitt four-yard touchdown run with 10:04 to play in the game to make the final score of 41-9.
The Raiders piled up 347 yards of total offense while holding the Pirates (0-1) to just 109 total offensive yards.
Towers 47, Heritage (Newnan) 7
The Towers Titans rushed for five touchdowns and had four interceptions on the way to a season opening 47-7 victory over the Heritage (Newnan) Hawks at Cobb Stadium.
Running back Lorenzo Denson and quarterback Quaricus Hurley both ran for two touchdowns in the win and guard Javonta Calloway got into the act with a rushing touchdown of his own.
Jamel Hector led the defense with two interceptions on the night while Trevon Milsap and D’Mitrious Brown both had picks on the evening.
The Titans (1-0) found a weapon in kicker Gael Reutin this year as he was six-for-six on PATS and had six touchbacks on kickoffs in the game.
Arabia Mountain 35, Alcovy 19
The Arabia Mountain Rams scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to put the game away 35-19 over the Alcovy Tigers at Godfrey Stadium on Thursday night.
Before the game got underway Alcovy Coach Spencer Fortson and his team presented the Coach Keith Miller and the Rams with a banner in honor of Micah King in a surprising gesture. King passed away suddenly during preseason practice.
“That was totally unexpected and much appreciated by our team,” said Miller. “I can’t say how much it meant to us for Coach Fortson to do it.”
The two teams were tied 7-7 early and the Rams took a 14-13 lead at the half. Both teams scored to make it 21-19 heading into the fourth quarter. The Rams then scored two more times to seal the victory.
Freshman quarterback CJ Jones threw touchdown passes to Jamarius Daniel and Alex Chambliss to go with touchdown runs by Jordan Walker (100 yards rushing) and Zyier Carswell.
The Rams got good defensive performances from defensive linemen Marcos Moten and Steven Lewis along Chambliss at linebacker.
M.L. King 24, Heritage (Conyers) 16
The Martin Luther King Lions jumped out to a 21-9 halftime lead and held off the Heritage Patriots for a 24-16 season opening win at Hallford Stadium.
Heritage pulled within 21-16 heading into the fourth quarter after scoring the lone touchdown of the third period. The Lions (1-0) tacked on a field goal in the fourth quarter and held the Patriots scoreless to close out the victory.
The Lions had lost a 15-14 heartbreaker at Heritage in the 2024 season opener.
The lone away game on Thursday had the Columbia Eagles (0-1) falling to Class 4A No. 5 ranked Cartersville by a score of 44-0.
DCSD FOOTBALL SCHEDULE – WEEK 1
Thursday, August 14
ADAMS STADIUM
Redan (1-0) 41, Stone Mountain (0-1) 9
COBB STADIUM
Towers (1-0) 47, Heritage (Newnam) (0-1) 7
GODFREY STADIUM
Arabia Mountain (1-0) 35, Alcovy (0-1) 19
HALLFORD STADIUM
M.L. King (1-0) 24, Heritage (0-1) 16
AWAY GAMES
Cartersville (1-0) 44, Columbia (0-1) 0
Friday, Aug. 15
ADAMS STADIUM
Berkmar (0-0) vs. Lakeside (0-0), 7:00 pm
COBB STADIUM
Druid Hills (0-0) vs. Miller Grove (0-0), 7:00 pm
GODFREY STADIUM
Therrell (0-0) vs. Cedar Grove (0-0), 2:00 pm
Carver-Atl (0-0) vs. SW DeKalb (0-0), 7:00 pm
HALLFORD STADIUM
Lithia Springs (0-0) vs. Lithonia (0-0), 7:00 pm
NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Pace Academy (0-0) vs. Chamblee (0-0), 7:00 pm
AWAY GAMES
Clarkston (0-0) at Heard Co. (0-0), 7:30 pm
Cross Keys (0-0) at George Walton (0-0), 7:30 pm
McNair (0-0) at Temple (0-0), 7:30 pm
Tucker (0-0) at Valdosta (0-0), 8:00 pm
Saturday, Aug. 16
MERCEDES BENZ STADIUM
Dunwoody (0-0) vs. St. Pius X (0-0), 10:00 am
STEELE ROAD STADIUM
Mays (0-0) vs. Stephenson (0-0), 6:00 pm
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