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Anthony Booker manages to keep his balance and power past a tackler. Booker ran for 361 yards and scored five touchdowns during the regular season.
Credit: Mark Brock, DeKalb County Athletics
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Stephenson re-emerges after fighting through injuries issues
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It’s state playoff time for high school football in Georgia and in DeKalb County the Stephenson Jaguars are in the customary place. According to Georgia High School Football Historians, since 2000 Stephenson has only missed the playoff once. This season’s path to the postseason got off to a bumpy start. Coach Marcus Jelks’ squad was 2-3 after the first five games, which included a loss to Mount Zion of Jonesboro in the Region 5-3A opener. The defeat was painful in more ways than one.
“Throughout the whole season we battled injuries,” says Jelks. “I think it wasn't until the week of the Luella game, which was week nine, that we were finally close to 100 percent. So all year, we kind of had guys down. I still don't make excuses for the Mount Zion game. Mount Zion came out motivated. They had a good game plan. They held the ball from us, limited possession and took advantage of the mistakes that we made. We just ran out of time there at the end. It was one of those weeks where the players kind of took them for granted. So, I honestly feel like we needed that, to make us wake up and be able to do what we're doing now.”
This is Jelks’ fourth season at the helm of the program at his alma mater. He succeeded DeKalb County coaching legend Ron Gartrell after the 2020 season. After going 10-3 in 2023, the coach was pleased with a productive off season.
“Spring was pretty good,” recalls Jelks. “We were figuring things out, putting people in different places. We finished spring ball with South Gwinnett, playing a scrimmage there. During the summer we did a few contact camps and one of those camps was against Whitewater. To end up drawing them in the first round of the playoffs was kind of funny. But summer was good leading into our fall scrimmage against Parkview to those early games. Then we just started getting banged up.”
Dealing with injuries early in the season was a dose of adversity for the Jaguars. The loss to Mount Zion did indeed serve as a wake-up call. Stephenson reeled off four consecutive wins and headed into the final game of season going for the region championship. They would face Douglass in a much-anticipated game.
“I knew at the beginning of the season that it would come down to that game,” says Jelks. “I knew that it would probably be the region championship on the line. In preparation for that I was just trying to motivate the guys and get them ready for a hard-fought football game. Having to go to Lakewood to play that game was a big worry of mine going into that week, just because you go into somebody else's territory.”
Jelks can speak from experience in that regard.
“When I played here at Stephenson we played Douglass” he says. “We actually lost to them by penetration in overtime 8-7(in 1998). So, we knew that playing Douglass over there at Lakewood and the kind of season they were having, we were in for a battle. We've had a confident team all year. But they felt confident going into the game because we were back close to 100 percent healthy. We didn't have guys playing out of position and things of that sort. We knew that they were fast on defense, and the quarterback was one that we knew we couldn't let, have a good game. It was a slugfest.”
So, it was two of metro Atlanta’s most successful programs locking up in a low scoring contest. It was a game that screamed for someone special to step forward and Jelks had just the player.
“Marcus Andrews, one of my senior captains, who plays center and defensive line, had an incredible game,” recalls Jelks. “In that game, I saw him will our team to that victory. We were up 7-6 most of the game and late in the third quarter Douglass was able to kick a field goal and go up 9-7. When we got the ball back and drove down he had a couple of good blocks, but on the winning touchdown run he ended up blocking two people. One of them being a free safety who had come down in the box and had made most of the tackles all night. Andrews was able to block one guy into another one and that sprung us for a touchdown. With a little bit of time on the clock Douglass was able to drive that ball all the way down to the 15 yard line. It was a situation where it's five seconds left in the game, and it comes down to one play. Now Marcus Andrews is on the D-line and he forces a fumble -- knocks the ball out the quarterback’s hand, we recovered and win the game. So, he had a huge impact on that game.”
The 15-9 win over Douglass lifted Stephenson’s record to 7-3 and clinched the 12th region title in school history. A small but versatile group of seniors have made a big difference this season.”
These guys have been starting since they were freshman, when I took over the program,” says Jelks. “The quarterback Marte Barton and four of the offensive linemen are four-year starters. So, this senior class, even though it's only 13 of them, is a mighty class. Quite a few of them go both ways.”
Last year Stephenson had one of the top running backs in the state. This year sophomore Jayden Johnson has taken over at the position and led Dekalb County in rushing and coach is pleased with his progression. He rushed for 1,074 yards and nine touchdowns during the regular season.
“He was so talented coming out of middle school and up through the parks,” recalls Jelks. “He had a chance last year as a freshman to watch Devin Ingram who rushed for 2,256 yards and 32 touchdowns. He had a chance to sit back and watch him last year so he came to this year hungry. I wanted to see him do some of the same things we saw Devin do and he's been special.”
The Jaguar defense is anchored by senior linebacker Romondo Craddock, who plays a number of positions, and a number of other sports. You may want to remember the name.
“He’s a middle linebacker who also plays H-back and tight end and will play some quarterback for us as well,” Jelks said. “In the Douglass game, because our quarterback was banged up, he was able to come in and play some quarterback for us. He is averaging about 12 tackles per game. He’s a big-time impact guy and he definitely looks the part. He's a special kid, all-state D line last year, and we moved him back to linebacker this year. In wrestling he lost in the state championship at 215 to a three-time state champion, so he should win a state championship at 215 this year and then he's a heck of a baseball player, so he’s a jack of all trades.”
That brought Stephenson to their first-round playoff game against Whitewater. This was the same Whitewater team they had faced at a contact camp back during the summer. Well, maybe not completely the same.
“We realized that wasn’t the same team from the summer,” laughs Jelks. “We saw that on film. They did a good job offensively, running that wing-T. We struggled to stop it. So, the game turned into a scoring battle. Our offensive line played well, and we were able to rush for close to 350 yards. The guys were very resilient. I was excited about the fact that they never quit. We made some mistakes in the game and had some plays where we didn't line up right. They never once felt like they were out of the game and weren't going to win it. We were down by eight in the fourth quarter. We got the ball, went down and scored and got the two-point conversion. The score was tied and Whitewater had the ball and was driving when another linebacker, Tyler Little, forced the fumble and recovered it. Two plays later, we scored the game-winning touchdown. It was Romando Craddock. We had put him in at quarterback.”
That brings on this week’s second round contest against Jenkins from Savannah. You may remember the Warriors. The crew that entered state playoffs last season at 3-7 and proceeded to knock off Arabia Mountain and Dutchtown before falling to Cartersville in the quarterfinals. Marcus Jelks needs no reminder.
“They didn't have a good record last year,” says Jelks. “They came up and shocked Arabia Mountain. It is something that I've been talking and preaching to the team about. The difference this year is they are 9-2. So, they’re not going to sneak up on anybody. We're preparing for a hard football game from Jenkins. We’ve got to remain focused and locked in. I'm expecting a good team.”
This week’s second round playoff edition of Football Fridays In Georgia will feature Lowndes at Buford. It all kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on the great GPB!
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