Fielding a team with 18 first-year starters and moving a linebacker to quarterback isn’t a typical prescription for success, but it seems to be working at Chamblee, where the Bulldogs have won their first two game and appear ready to make another run toward the playoffs.
Chamblee went 8-3 in 2022, won its first-round playoff game and pushed eventual state champion Ware County as hard as anyone in the postseason before losing 24-7.
“We’re just running our systems,” coach Bob Swank said, “We didn’t change anything. They’re all kids who were around last year for the good run and the playoff appearances. I think they’ve just come to expect it now.”
The Bulldogs learned against Ware County that it needed to build a 22-man starting lineup. Chamblee had too many guys playing both ways last year and the lack of depth was a deciding factor in the loss at Ware County
“They just wore us down in the second half. They didn’t have a player playing both sides and we had every kid on both sides,” Swank said. “We just made a decision this offseason that if we’re going to try to do it that way, because if we ever want to play football at that level, we’re going to have 22 starters and not 11.”
The biggest problem was who to play at quarterback, where record-setting Fabian Walker graduated. His replacement is Ashton Bolston, who played linebacker last year. Bolston transferred in from Lakeside after his sophomore year, where he started on the offensive line. He ran for 150 yards and one touchdown and threw for 131 yards and three touchdowns in the opener against South Cobb.
“We didn’t have a quarterback and we were literally asking the kids who could throw,” Swank said. “The other kids told us he could throw. And he can throw pretty good and he’s 220 pounds, so he’s a load when he goes out there and runs the ball.”
It helps that Aidan Herron returns at left tackle, along with running back Larry Harris and wide receiver Tristan Sizemore.
“Tristan is a good football player. He’s a very polished wide receiver and he’s hard to cover,” Swank said. “Larry is really fast. In week one he was our special teams player of the week and then last week he was our offensive player of the week. We don’t have many kids who play both ways but Larry and Tristan do, so I asked Larry if he was going to be the defensive player of the week this week.”
Chamblee is coming off a 21-12 win over Towers. Sophomore Ed Reed III blocked a punt, blocked a field goal, caused a fumble and recovered a fumble to spark the win. Backup quarterback Everett Boyer came into the game when Bolston was shaken up and threw a touchdown on the first play.
Swank was named recipient of this week’s Atlanta Falcons coach of the week award. Swank coached T.J. Yates, now Falcons’ wide receivers coach, when both were at Pope High School.
This week Chamblee will meet Dunwoody (1-0) is the 10th “Battle for the Golden Spike Trophy,” so named for the railroad that used to connect the two DeKalb County towns. The game will be at 7:30 p.m. at North DeKalb Stadium. Dunwoody won the first six “Golden Spike” games, but Chamblee has won the last three, including 37-21 in 2022. The all-time series originated in 1974. Dunwoody leads the series 13-12.
Dunwoody features quarterback Matt Pearch, who threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opening win over North Springs.
“It’s a big game,” Swank said. “The stadium will be close to sold out and it will be an awesome atmosphere for the rivalry game.”
Here are five other interesting games to watch this weekend:
Creekside at Mater Dei, Calif. (Saturday): No. 2-ranked Creekside will wing its way to the West Coast to play Mater Dei of Santa Ana, Calif., the No. 1-ranked high school in the country. The Monarchs (2-0) have produced three Heisman Trophy winners. Mater Dei has a new coach in Frank McManus, the former defensive coordinator who was promoted with 35-year veteran Bruce Rollinson resigned at the end of last season.
Creekside has been rolling on offense. Quarterback Vinson Berry has thrown for 247 yards and five touchdowns, with the dangerous Shane Kelley catching six passes for 142 yards and three touchdowns. The two-headed monster of running backs Roderick McCrary (289 yards, two touchdowns) and Travis Terrell Jr. (273 yards, two touchdowns) have been hard to slow down. McCrary leads the team with 24 tackles, four for loss, and two sacks.
“This was one of those things you can’t say no to, to play a team like that,” Creekside coach Maurice Dixon said. “And this is an opportunity to expose our kids to the West Coast and a different brand of football. It was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.”
Jones County at Perry: Check the scoreboard lights, because they’ll likely be flickering all night for this one when No. 7 Jones County (1-1) travels to Perry (0-1). But Jones County quarterback Judd Anderson won’t be with the team. He transferred to Warner Robins last week and has joined the Demons, where he is immediately eligible.
Jones has two outstanding receivers in all-state Zion Ragins (five catches, 21.8 average, two TDs) and Jaivon Solomon (10 catches, 110 yards, two touchdowns.)
Perry lost to rival Houston County 42-35 in a shootout last week. Senior quarterback Colter Ginn threw for 349 yards, with Dakari Anderson catching eight passes for 137 yards. Running back Ahmad Gordon ran for 84 yards and three touchdowns.
Perry won 42-14 in 2022 in a series that has been sporadically contested since 1954.
Villa Rica at Northgate: Northgate is 2-0 for the first time since 2016, when it began the season 5-0. Last week it was a late goal-line stand, a big stop by Aiden Kirby on the last play of the game, that was the difference in a 24-21 win over Starr’s Mill.
The Vikings have been led by running back Evan Garrett, who has a pair of 100-yard rushing games and was named the program’s player of the month for August. Last week, Cade Bates blocked a field goal, had a sack and two tackles for loss, and Braxtyn Davies (15 total tackles), Trey Graddy, Marcus Barnes, Mason McKnight and Keaton Stigall all played well on defense.
This will be Northgate’s first home game of the season and they will dedicate the game to Javier Dodson, a young player who was killed in a car accident in February.
Villa Rica (0-1) is expected to be one of the playoff contenders in Region 5. The Wildcats lost their season opener 13-6 to Hebron Christian, ruining Austin Barron’s debut as head coach.
The Wildcats relied on quarterback Zhay’lyn Bell to do a lot of things last week, but the offense was unable to move the ball consistently against a larger Hebron team and managed only 104 total yards. Bell was 4-for-14 passing and ran 10 times for minus-4 yards, despite a 20-yard gain, and scored the only touchdown. Villa Rica’s defense was led by Caleb Aker, Jay Carter and Jeff Dudley, who had an interception.
Villa Rica has won the last two meetings, including 29-17 in 2022. The Wildcats lead the all-time series 4-3.
Greater Atlanta Christian at Pace Academy: The Spartans (2-0) have bounced back nicely after last year’s 5-6 record and first-round playoff elimination. In last week’s 36-13 win over Lovett, Spartans’ quarterback Jack Stanton set a school record with 392 passing yards. The senior completed 23 of 37 passes, with Xavier Daisy hauling in seven passes for 197 yards.
Pace Academy (1-1) is coming off a 33-31 win over Westminster after losing the season-opener to Holy Innocents’.
GAC may come into this one with a chip on its shoulder. Pace Academy won last year’s game 31-0.
Eastside at Newton: Eastside (1-0) is one of the most consistent programs around. The Eagles are fundamentally strong, well-coached and never seem to be out of a game. Eastside is a bit younger this season but looked good in the opening 34-0 win over Luella. Running back Jayden Barr ran for a touchdown and the defense got a 60-yard pick-six from Marion Eubanks and 11 tackles from Kalen Stapp.
Class 7A Newton, under first-year coach Josh Skelton, has been dominant in its two games – 50-0 over Hapeville Charter and 54-0 over Alcovy. Zion Johnson has run for 316 yards and four touchdowns and quarterback Deron Benson has thrown for 154 yards and two scores.
Newton has dominated the series of late, winning the last four meetings (12-0 in 2022) and lead the series 11-7-1.
