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SPORTS THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9 - 15, 2025 • PAGE 10 Southwest DeKalb upsets Lithonia BY REGINALD FULLER RFULLER@DEKALBCHAMP.COM The Southwest DeKalb Panthers took down the last undefeated high school football team in DeKalb, the Lithonia Bulldogs, with a 31-14 regional victory at Hallford Stadium on Oct. 2. The game was sealed for the Panthers after a successful field goal attempt by kicker Kelvin Saturday made the score 24-14 with 2:25 left to play and with a late-game interception by defensive back Myson Perry for a 35-yard pick six with less than two minutes in the game, which made the final score 31-14. "We were battle tested. We played Marist, we played Carver, and that got us ready for this," said Panthers' head coach Marion Bell III. "Being tested early in the year helped us with this win tonight and also not making any mistakes." Lithonia got the game started with their first offensive drive that went 80 yards down field. The drive started at their own 20 and in the hands of their running back Albert Gooding who ran the ball eight times out of their 16-play drive. The Panthers managed to get Lithonia to a fourth down but a defensive offsides penalty pushed the Bulldogs to first and goal at the 4-yard line. Three plays later, running back Xavier Butler got in the endzone with a 1-yard touchdown run to get Lithonia the first points of the game. Kicker Zachary McCalla made the score 7-0 with a successful extra point attempt. With 6:30 left to play in the second, the Bulldogs got Southwest DeKalb to punt the ball but a strip fumble by Panthers' linebacker Zyeed Conwell gave the ball back to his offense at Lithonia's 20-yard line. A few plays later, quarterback Braylon Carter zipped a pass to receiver Jordan Christie for a 9-yard touchdown to get their first points of the game. Saturday made the score 7-7 with his first successful extra point kick on the night. A few drives later, Southwest DeKalb punted the ball again back to Lithonia but another Panthers' special team recovery after a bobbled catch gave Southwest DeKalb's offense the ball back. The Panthers capitalized on Lithonia's mistake with a 20-yard touchdown pass for Carter to running back Joshua Jones for their second score. Saturday made it 14-7. The half ended with a hail mary throw from Lithonia quarterback James Coggins, which was intercepted by Panthers' defensive back Torrelt Solomon Jr. Southwest DeKalb got the first touches of the ball coming out the third quarter and drove 67 yards down the field on a six-play drive carried by running back Tamir Rudolph who touched the ball four times during the stint. The drive ended with a 27-yard pass from Carter to receiver Taron Essex to get Carter's D Southwest DeKalb Panthers quarterback Braylon Carter finished with three touchdowns in the victory against Lithonia. 59 Av Running back Tamir Rudolph was the bell cow for the Panthers touching the ball 18 times for more than 70 total yards. Photos by Reginald Fuller third passing touchdown of the game. Saturday made it 21-7. Lithonia countered with a scoring drive of their own on their first offensive snaps of the half. The Bulldogs drove 65 yards down the field ending the drive with a screen pass to Butler for a 41-yard touchdown. McCalla made the score 21-14. Two costly mistakes by Lithonia in the fourth gave Southwest DeKalb the opportunity to push their lead to a two-possession game. The last mistake, an interception by Panthers' defensive back Christopher Nunn set Southwest DeKalb up for field goal attempt in which Saturday kicked a successful 40-yard field goal to push the score to 24-14. Perry sealed the game with the 35-yard pick six. "I feel Kelvin won us the game," said Christie. "We were a little rough coming out the gate, but we came together as a team. Our defense got going, our offense needed to score, we did that and it turned into a win." Carter ended the game with three touchdown passes to three different receivers while the Panthers' defense and special teams came up with four takeaways on the game. FOR MOK SPORTS STORMS VISIT THECHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.COM
