4 Questions with Lithonia football coach Kevin Barnes

1. What did the Tucker win mean to the program?

“It’s avenging one of our four losses last year. It was disappointing going 6-4 and not getting into any postseason. We were No. 5 in the region and the first team out of the playoffs. This doesn’t relieve all the tension, but it’s a relief to know we’ve gotten one under your belt.”

Note: Lithonia is favored in four more games, according to the Maxwell Ratings. Seven victories would be the most for Lithonia since 1994.

2. What is different about this year’s team that gave you the advantage in this game vs. last year’s game?

“We came out and attacked them physically. Last year when I got hired in February, we didn’t have an opportunity to implement a full offseason. This year, we committed to the weight room and we committed to nutrition and came out a bigger and faster team than we were. Last year, we were getting blown off the ball a little bit. That was one of the things we made sure we changed this year.”

Note: Lithonia took a 20-0 lead early in the third quarter with Zachary McCalla’s two field goals scoring touchdowns set up by Edward Roberts’ 51-yard interception return and the recovery of a muffed punt at the Tucker 1-yard line.

3. What has been the most important thing that you and your staff have done since you took over the program?

“The main thing I did was getting some good guys around me. We have a great staff that believes in Lithonia. We have guys that were alumni and have a lot of pride and love for the school and could keep kids in Lithonia from leaving. We were keeping kids from Lithonia in Lithonia. And we had a lot of kids walking around in school that didn’t want to play football because there wasn’t a winning culture here.

It was just proving to them that I care more about them than just for football. Then we had some guys to get scholarship offers last year [nine signed] and were able to change their lives. We did have a lot of freshmen that had played on varsity and just weren’t experienced enough to get over the hump. This year they’re starting to believe a little more.”

Note: Lithonia alumni on staff include Rober’ Freeman, a former NFL player; Clifford “Gator” Browning, who played arena ball with the Georgia Force; Jimmie Kitchens, who played at Georgia Tech; Jordan Roman, who played at Alabama A&M; and Cardinal Falaise.

4. How has the program grown since?

“My first weightlifting session, only seven showed up. I had two parents at the first parent meeting. By the time we got to spring, we’d gotten up to about 45. We had enough to win a spring game. We played Salem last year and were able to get a victory. Salem wasn’t a great team, but we weren’t either. Tasting that victory catapulted us. That summer we had about 75 coming out. Now, we’re standing strong with about 110 in the program.”