Stone Mountain and Decatur, two of the up-and-coming programs in Region 5, will meet each other when Region 5 begins league competition.
Stone Mountain hasn’t had a winning season since 2011, but showed great strides a year ago by going 3-7 in coach James Lal’s first season. Decatur is in its first season under William Felton, who will try to build on the foundation set in place before Cody Cory moved back to Texas.
The two teams meet on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Adams Stadium.
Region 5 is a solid league from top to bottom and Stone Mountain and Decatur should be in the playoff picture. Decatur went 7-4 last year and made the playoffs for the first time since 2005. Stone Mountain last qualified for postseason in 2004.
“Our kids are ready to prove a point,” Lal said. “Last year I think we were the homecoming opponent in eight of our 10 games and our kids know that. They understand the respect factor is not there. ... The past is the past and our kids are confident and our staff is confident.”
The Pirates have an explosive offense that’s directed by quarterback Shaheim Bailey, who accounted for eight touchdowns in the 53-7 opening win over North Springs. Bailey ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns, threw for 252 yards and four touchdowns and returned two interceptions for touchdowns. He needs 32 rushing yards on Friday to become the first DeKalb County player to surpass 2,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing in their career.
Bailey’s younger brother Saquan Bailey had five catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns and Donsay Brown had four catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns.
The Stone Mountain defense is led by junior defensive tackle Ronel Thomas, who had 12 tackles, with four sacks and four tackles for loss in the opener. Senior leaders on defense include Chad Green and Justin Jackson.
Felton has been the defensive coordinator at Decatur since 2016 and has been an important part in helping the program rise to playoff status. The Bulldogs have an experienced team loaded with seniors, a good place to be in the year of COVID-19. Decatur
Decatur opened the season by beating Arabia Mountain 22-7. The Bulldogs amassed 359 yards of total offense, with 231 coming on the ground. Quarterback Harrison Hannah threw the ball well, with Justin Weaver and Marquis Hood making big catches. Cameron Wingo is a tough, physical runner who is capable of going the distance.
The Decatur defense came up with three interceptions, including one each from Mekhi Lloyd and Sam Mahany. Chapman Smith led the team with 6.5 tackles.
The two programs haven’t met since 1977. Stone Mountain leads the series 3-1.
Meanwhile, in mighty Region 1 …
The state’s toughest league – where four of the five members are ranked – three teams play a ranked opponent. No. 1 Warner Robins hosts Lee County (Class 6A No. 3), Benedictine (Class 4A No. 3) travels to play No. 3 Ware County, No. 5 Veterans travels to play Oconee County (No. 3 in 3A). In the other games, No. 7 Coffee travels to Camden County (ranked No. 6 in Class 7A by Georgia Public Broadcasting) and Wayne County, which began the season in the rankings, hosts unbeaten Appling County (Class 3A No. 9 in GPB rankings).
It’s just a warmup for Oct. 23, when the Region 1 starts to play league games.
In other games of interest this week:
Harris County at Starr’s Mill: This game will determine the early leader in Region 2 – although both teams must still play Griffin. Harris County (3-1) is led by quarterback Cooper Corey, who has thrown for 628 yards and run for 167. He threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 34-21 loss to Class 7A Newnan. Starr’s Mill (3-1) has gotten its running game going again behind running back Devin Barnett (444 yards, five TDs), Brandon Mathis (193 yards) and quarterback William Yarbrough (101 yards rushing, 159 yards passing). Starr’s Mill leads the series 2-1 and won last year’s game 28-7.
Woodland at Ola: No. 8 Ola (4-0) took a big step last week by beating defending Region 4 champion Dutchtown and faces another challenger in Woodland (4-0). Ola quarterback Jake Hall is a two-way threat – he’s thrown for 434 yards and rushed for 430 and six touchdowns. But he’s got a pair of backs to choose from (Micah Bell has 459 yards and five touchdowns and Naziq Dahniya has 265 yards and four touchdowns) and a top receiver in sophomore Jaden Barnes (16 catches). Woodland quarterback Noah Ross has thrown for 545 yards and four touchdowns and has two solid running backs in Joshua Weems (344 yards, four TDs) and Evan Jackson (174 yards, two touchdowns). Woodland leads the series 6-2 but Ola won 38-13 to break a six-game losing streak to the Wolfpack.
Creekside at Tri-Cities: Tri-Cities is 3-0, but its three opponents are a combined 0-13, so this will be the first real challenge for the Bulldogs. Creekside (1-2) got its first win last week after losing competitive games to state-ranked Westlake and Cartersville. Creekside running back Kamauri Davis has rushed for 417 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Nyqua Lett has thrown for 197 yards and two touchdowns and run for 119 yards. Creekside leads the series 11-3 and won 56-6 last season.
Jones County at Stockbridge: These two teams are used to competing for state playoffs, but have gotten off to poor starts. Jones County (1-3) hammered Union Grove 62-22 last week after dropping its first three games to state-ranked teams in higher classifications – including Class 7A No. 1 juggernaut Grayson. Stockbridge (1-2) got in the win column last week by whipping Locust Grove 41-7 after losing to Class 7A Gainesville and Class 6 No. 10 Douglas County. Stockbridge leads the series 5-1 and won 44-14 in 2019.
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