No. 4 King survives SW DeKalb

Watching your opponent live on your side of the turf the whole night is not the way to win a game. But M.L. King did just that Friday night at a raucous Hallford Stadium, holding off rival Southwest DeKalb for a 21-12 victory.

Class AAAAA No. 4-ranked M.L. King (1-0) allowed AAAA Southwest DeKalb (0-1) to advance inside its 40-yard line on eight possessions, yet yielded only a single touchdown. Three of those possessions ended in turnovers, two concluded when Southwest DeKalb failed to convert on fourth downs and the other two ended with missed field goals.

The Panthers’ final push came after senior Jeremy Barnett raced 53 yards on a punt return and quarterback Daniel Litt finished the 3-yard drive on a sneak to make it 14-12 with just over five minutes remaining. But Southwest DeKalb’s attempt to tie the game failed when junior end Rahmon Swain sacked Litt on the two-point conversion try.

On M.L. King’s next possession, Joel Kight ran 17 yards on a fake punt and sophomore quarterback Kevin Byard finished the drive with a sneak.

Mack Brown, a senior transfer from Redan, led the Lions with 175 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Southwest DeKalb senior Michael Johnson opened the second half with a 65-yard touchdown on the third quarter’s second play. But the extra point was blocked to keep it 7-6.

The Lions replied midway through the quarter when Brown followed his right guard’s block for a 63-yard touchdown to make it 14-6.

Southwest DeKalb owned the first 16 minutes of the game but had nothing to show for it. Great field position on its first three possessions netted two missed field goals.

On their final possession of the half, the Lions marched 73 yards on 14 plays, capped off by Byard’s 10-yard fade to 6-foot-3 junior receiver Benjamin Walker. Byard and Walker had kept the drive alive moments earlier with an 18-yard completion on fourth-and-three.