SW DeKalb ends NW Whitfield's playoff run

By Glennis Curry

For the AJC

Not too long after it started, Northwest Whitfield’s return to the Class AAAA playoffs became the Nightmare on Panthersville Road.

Second-ranked Southwest DeKalb scored on all seven of its first-half possessions and stonewalled the Bruins offense in a 40-3 rout.

Panthers coach Buck Godfrey earned his 250th career win, tying former Commerce coach Ray Lamb for 23rd among coaches in Georgia history. In 27 seasons at Southwest DeKalb his teams have won 10 games 11 different times and had only one losing season, in 2002 when they were 5-6 and still made the playoffs.

Southwest DeKalb (10-1) has won 13 region titles and more than 76 percent of its games under Godfrey. Godfrey, the winningest black football coach in state history, can go ahead of Lamb with a home win next week against Clarke Central or Mays.

“I’m proud of that, considering I started late,” Godfrey said of the milestone. “I got this job at 40.”

Northwest Whitfield last appeared in the playoffs in 2007, when the Bruins upset Douglas County in the first round. Nothing seemed to go right early for the Bruins (7-4), who finished the regular season 7-3 and fell to the fourth seed behind a tiebreaker with Dalton.

The game started with a couple of trick plays, first an onside kick recovered by Southwest DeKalb at the 50. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Steven Coates tossed a 10-yard pass to Fred Jackson, who pitched a lateral to Nicolas Barnett. Barnett ran the remaining 40 yards into the end zone, electrifying. Before the dust settled, Northwest Whitfield lost a fumble and Southwest DeKalb recovered at the Bruins’ 19.

“They weren’t supposed to be here,” Northwest Whitfield coach Mike Falleur said of his team. “We knew coming in we would need to play perfect to win, and then we give up the ball twice in the first few minutes.

“They are a great football team. If they do what they are capable of doing and keep their heads straight, it will take one heck of a team to beat them.”

By the time the Northwest Whitfield band arrived at Panthersville Stadium, Southwest DeKalb led 37-0.

“The kids did an exceptional job of executing the gameplan,” Godfrey said modestly.