Kyle Mosley is a young man headed places.
A senior at Cedar Grove High in DeKalb County, he is a captain of the Saints football team, a role he owns. He leads team prayers and pregame stretches and possesses the voice and respect to herd teammates when team meals are over. From the way that classmates, teachers and administrators share hugs with him, the affection and appreciation that he has won at this school in 3½ years is obvious. His coach can envision him someday running for political office.
“He’s just a real-good people person and comes out each and every day and works hard,” Cedar Grove coach John Adams said. “And the players trust him and listen to him.”
A standout defensive tackle who committed to Alabama-Birmingham, Mosley has a 3.9 GPA and someday wants to open a psychiatry practice and then attend culinary school to start a restaurant. On Wednesday, he had a more pressing objective to pursue – his second-ranked team’s game for the Class 3A state championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium against No. 4 Savannah Christian Prep. Cedar Grove’s recent run of success is nearly unmatched – four state championships in the past seven years, with a chance at a fifth that day. As he ate breakfast in the school’s sunlit cafeteria, he went so far as to say that the state title game “feels like where we’re supposed to be.” It was brought up to him that most players would give anything to play in one state title game, while Mosley was about to play in his third in a row.
“That’s what makes it so special,” he said, “especially being able to go back as many times as we’ve gone.”
Credit: Photo by Ken Sugiura/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Photo by Ken Sugiura/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The day began before the sun rose over Atlanta, as players reported to the locker room at 6:30 a.m. for the 1 p.m. game. In a cramped storage room, Adams and a team of managers handed out jerseys and pants, Adams calling out the jersey numbers for each player and crossing them off with a yellow highlighter. Adams may be the leader of an ultra-successful program, but the hats he wears are many. Among other roles, he’s the equipment manager, the audio/visual guy, the nutritionist, the media-relations director and the janitor. Fittingly, Adams also is his own defensive coordinator. The 39-year-old husband and father of one grew up in DeKalb, playing football and baseball at Southwest DeKalb High, the former for the legendary Buck Godfrey. He came to Cedar Grove in 2016 and became head coach in 2021.
“The kids respond to him,” principal Clifton Spears said. “He’s, in his own quiet way, a disciplinarian.”
In this suburban, mostly black, middle-class part of DeKalb, Adams has taken over and built on a powerhouse that churns out FBS talent. On this team alone, Saints players are committed to Georgia (junior running back Bo Walker), Florida State (sophomore wide receiver Devin Carter), Maryland (senior cornerback Lakhi Roland) and Central Florida (quarterback E.J. Colson), not to mention UAB-bound Mosley and more with college potential. Adams credits talent, good coaches and a focus on video study and game planning, among other factors. On Tuesday, the day’s work included a 30-minute session with the defense, as about 35 players crammed into a science classroom, with Adams drawing up Savannah Christian formations and quizzing players on their assignments. Mosley remembers that when he was a sophomore, Adams had to step in and be the defensive line coach on top of coaching the defensive backs.
“He put the whole D-line in a group chat,” Mosley said. “At 3 in the morning, he’d be sending us videos about different techniques that we’d probably be going through in practice. That really showed me how dedicated he is and how much he loves us.”
After the handing out of uniforms, the team observed a game-day ritual of watching a video of a famous boxing match in the auditorium, which for some players at this early hour in a darkened room proved ideal conditions for a nap. The team then moved to the gymnasium for a warmup and walk-through followed by breakfast, where adorable children from the neighboring elementary school welcomed them by waving ribbons on sticks and chanting “Let’s go!”
From there, players returned to the gym for one more walk-through before getting dressed for the bus ride to MBS. On this occasion, players dressed up for the trip, showing up in the auditorium in attire suitable for a semiformal dance.
“I look like LeBron,” one team member in a gray suit announced as he walked out of the locker room.
Colson, the UCF-bound quarterback, wore a light-blue suit and a colorful bow tie. Mosley may have won the day in a black suit with a silver-sequined lapel and sparkly silver shoes. They boarded charter buses through a gauntlet of cheerleaders as the marching band played.
At the stadium, excitement and energy began to build upon entering the locker room. As their tape was applied and they put on gear, players bounced along to hip-hop music cranked out of a speaker the size of a rolling suitcase brought from the school. Before leaving the locker room to warm up a little before 12:30, Mosley flipped through a series of Bible verses and kissed them before putting them back in the locker.
“Here we go,” he said. “It’s showtime.” After the team’s warmup in the end zone, Mosley gathered teammates together to fire them up, stopping briefly to tell them to look up at the stadium’s massive halo video board, which displayed the Cedar Grove and Savannah Christian logos.
“WOOOO!” came the response.
Credit: Photo by Ken Sugiura/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Photo by Ken Sugiura/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The game started in a hurry. Savannah Christian took the opening kickoff and reached the end zone in six plays. As Adams gathered the defense on the sideline to review the game with a tablet and a TV, Cedar Grove fans erupted as Malachi Miller took a jet-sweep toss from Colson and raced for a 64-yard touchdown play. Upon hearing the crowd, players looked up at the video board and, like scrambled fighter pilots, quickly grabbed their helmets and left to get ready for the next series.
Leading 21-14, the Saints gained control of the game late in the first half when safety Tony Forney intercepted Savannah Christian quarterback Blaise Thomas and returned the ball 44 yards to the Pirates’ 18-yard line. On the next play, Colson (UCF commit) to Carter (FSU commit) on a fade route for a touchdown and a 28-14 lead.
“That was crazy,” Forney said of a play that will long live in team history. “It was crazy fun.”
The Saints scored two more touchdowns in the first five minutes of the third quarter for a 42-14 lead, and the mood on the sideline grew festive, anticipating victory.
“I’m going to get in!” a backup lineman shouted gleefully.
But Savannah Christian answered back with a touchdown and then recovered an onside kick that Cedar Grove anticipated but couldn’t field cleanly.
But the Cedar Grove defense closed the door by stopping the Pirates on a fourth-and-2 as Mosley and linemates flooded into the Savannah Christian backfield. Near the end of the third quarter, the Saints scored one more touchdown on a 45-yard pass from Colson to Jordan Christie, a play that stood after video review, a new element to the state title game.
On the sideline, players began mimicking sliding on a ring to their fingers. Smiles were rampant. As the final minutes ticked down, players doused Adams with water. On the second-to-last defensive series, coaches subbed out starters one by one, Mosley included. The final score was 49-28 for the fifth state title in an eight-year span, just the seventh team to accomplish that feat in GHSA history.
“The whole game didn’t feel real, to be honest,” he said. “It was like, I don’t know, an out-of-body experience, I guess. It was different. But it felt good.”
When time expired, the team raced on the field to celebrate. For a moment, Mosley stood by himself, eyes closed, soaking in the moment. After the trophy presentation, Adams’ wife, Ashunte, had a surprise for him – a blue onesie lettered in the style of a jersey with “Adams” over “24.” The couple is expecting their second child, and after asking to be told the gender on Christmas, the coach received the gift two weeks early.
After that, a raucous locker room, as players danced and sang along to hip-hop music. A raspy-voiced Adams delivered an emotion-filled speech – “I’m damn proud of y’all!” – and circled the room hugging his players. Needing to clear out the space for the next team, players were hurried along and charged with cleaning up the room of discarded tape and other detritus. Among the last one to leave was Adams, picking up literal shreds of trash.
Back at Cedar Grove, players and coaches returned to the locker room before sharing dinner – barbecue ribs, fried chicken, collared greens and macaroni and cheese – with coaches, cheerleaders and family. It was sweet fellowship to celebrate a mission accomplished. Mosley asked a blessing on the meal and circulated throughout the cafeteria sharing hugs. With plans to enroll at UAB in January, Friday was to be his last day of high school. The page was turning.
Finally with some spare minutes, Adams missed much of the dinner running an errand before a family trip to the Bahamas. When he returned, the cafeteria was nearly empty. He sat down at a table with a few assistant coaches. The championship trophy made for a glorious centerpiece. One assistant had a question.
It was about non-region scheduling for next season.
Credit: Jason Allen
Credit: Jason Allen
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
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