Anchored by Super 11 standout, Stephenson’s defense shines in DeKalb clash

CLARKSTON — After forcing a three-and-out on its first drive of the 2026 season, Stephenson’s defense was struggling to slow Southwest DeKalb on the next series.

Quarterback Braylon Carter found his receivers on short screen passes and scrambled for a couple of first downs to extend the Panthers’ drive. Running back William Bryant helped move the ball into Stephenson territory and down inside the 40.

But on a fourth-and-1 from the Stephenson 36-yard line, the Jaguars defense hunkered down and forced a turnover on downs. It would do that three more times Saturday night as Stephenson held Southwest DeKalb to 0-for-4 on fourth-down conversions on its way to a 29-7 victory over its crosstown rivals to cap the much-awaited return of the DeKalb Kickoff Classic.

“Defense bent but didn’t break,” Stephenson coach Marcus Jelks said. “They flew around all night. They made the plays when they needed to be made.”

Anchoring the Jaguars defense was 6-foot-4 senior defensive end KJ Green. The 5-star LSU commit and AJC Super 11 selection picked up a sack on his second play of the game and continually was in the Southwest DeKalb backfield, whether his effort resulted in a tackle or not.

Green said it wasn’t a perfect game, but that the mentality the defense played with was something that had been brewing since its quarterfinal loss to LaGrange in the 3A state playoffs in November.

“Since that Sunday after we lost, our motto for the defense has been ‘Let’s not play extra downs. Let’s eliminate extra downs,’” Green said. “Bringing that all together, we know on fourth down that we’re not going to jump offsides. We’re going to expect the run.”

Stephenson made Carter uncomfortable for much of the night as the pocket collapsed quicker than he’s used to. Many of his runs, including his 17-yard touchdown scamper just before halftime to make it 14-7, were unplanned.

Southwest DeKalb’s offense ran just 13 plays inside the Stephenson 40-yard line, with five of them coming on its lone scoring drive.

“For 48 minutes, they outplayed us,” said Southwest DeKalb coach Marion Bell III. “It was tough. We had some times in the game where we didn’t capitalize.”

When Stephenson was on offense, it used a heavy dose of senior running back Jayden Johnson to pick up yards, churn the clock and keep Southwest DeKalb’s defense honest. Johnson, who committed to Middle Tennessee in July, finished his season opener with 25 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown.

On the Jaguars’ penultimate drive, Johnson helped burn nearly six minutes of clock, highlighted by a 21-yard carry deep into Southwest DeKalb territory.

“He’s hungry,” Jelks said of his senior back. “He’s a three-year starter for us. He has his eye on the prize for us this year. We trust him. We want to put the ball in his hands as many times as we can.”