Undefeated Tucker surprisingly falls in first round playoffs

By AP Story

Posted 6:53PM on Saturday, November 5, 2005

As Southwest DeKalb coach Buck Godfrey's players celebrated on the field after a 17-2 upset over Tucker Friday night, he looked into the stands to see some familiar faces. "There were a lot of our former players in the crowd tonight, and they were saying that this looked like good old-fashioned Southwest DeKalb football," Godfrey said. It was and then some. The Panthers' defense shut out previously undefeated Tucker _ which was averaging 38.6 points per game _ to advance to the second round of the state playoffs. "Tucker has a lot of great players with great speed on its offense," Panthers safety Hiram Atwater said. "But we have the same, if not more, on our defense." Southwest DeKalb (7-4) jumped to a 17-0 lead and that was enough. Brandon Jones scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter, Eric Houston 27-yard field goal in the second then Albert Oyegun added a 17-yard touchdown run in third. The only score for the Tigers (10-1) came when Sebry Nuru kicked a bad snap out of the end zone for a safety in the fourth. "Playoff games always come down to a break here or there, and thank God the big breaks mostly fell our way," Godfrey said. "And whenever we got in serious trouble, our defense was there to save us." DOUGLAS STUNS LAST YEAR'S CHAMPS: Jonathan Cummings caught a game-winning 20-yard touchdown from Ricky Dobbs with 32 seconds left and Douglas County rallied to upset Warner Robins 24-20. Warner Robins (9-2) scored 20 second-quarter points to take a 20-3 lead just before Douglas (10-1) responded with 21 unanswered points. SIXTH-RANKED MLK UPSETS No. 1 CARROLLTON: Cordero Jones scored on a 53-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to help M.L. King beat Carrollton 22-14. The Lions (8-3) scored on their third play from scrimmage on an 80-yard pass from Corey Tyler to Marquez Wade. Michael Kirk led the Tigers (10-1) with 117 yards rushing and a touchdown. HAWKINSVILLE TOPS No. 7 PORTAL: Jeremy Marshall rushed 25 times for 195 yards to lead Hawkinsville to a 17-6 win over Portal. Victor Bray scored for the Devils. No. 5 FITZGERALD EASES PAST THOMASVILLE: Nate Iman ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns and Jonathan Roberts added 74 yards rushing and two scores to lead Fitzgerald over Thomasville 28-0. The Purple Hurricane (10-1) totaled 333 yards. No. 7 STEPHENSON AVOIDS FIRST-ROUND UPSET: Jeffery Tarver scored on a 2-yard touchdown in the third quarter to lift Stephenson to a 6-3 win over Tift County. Andre Anderson ran for 109 yards on 24 carries for Stephenson (10-1). No. 1 CAMDEN HAS NO PROBLEMS IN OPENING ROUND: David Coleman had a punt and an interception return for a touchdown and Brandon West scored three times to lead Camden County to a 50-0 rout over Newnan. West scored on runs of 1, 80 and 38 yards for Camden (11-0). No. 2 BROOKWOOD PASSES OPENING-ROUND TEST: Cameron Smith scored three touchdowns and Brookwood beat Norcross 28-7. It is the first time Brookwood (11-0) has advanced to the second round since 2002. The only score for Norcross came with 13 seconds left in the game. No. 10 PEACH HAS STRONG DEFENSE: Duranzo Brow ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries to help Peach County beat Cross Creek 43-0. Brow scored on runs of 60 and 10 yards for Peach (8-3). Peach's defense allowed just nine total yards. KELL DOWNS No. 8 SOUTH COBB: Jonathan Dwyer scored on an 8-yard run to help Kell beat South Cobb 7-0. No. 1 NORTHSIDE MOVES TO SECOND ROUND: Brain Hunter ran for 171 yards and five touchdowns on 19 carries to lead Northside Warner Robins to a 42-7 win over Haralson County. Sam Robinson blocked a punt then returned it for a 32-yard TD for Northside (11-0). No. 1 BOWDON WINS EASILY: A.J. Cooley ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries to lead Bowdon to a 45-14 victory over Whitefield Academy. Cooley scored on a runs of 35 and 8 yards for Bowdown (10-1). No. 5 RANDOLPH-CLAY USES STRONG RUN GAME IN WIN: Chris Clay rushed 20 times for 254 yards and Dexter Ellington threw two touchdowns to lead Randolph-Clay to a 42-0 win over Lanier County. Randolph improves to (10-1).