TUCKER – DeKalb County’s media day last week featured a number of teams and programs looking to right their ships or return to glory, here’s where those programs shook out:
Cedar Grove High
Cedar Grove High School is going to have their work cut out for them in 2018. Opening the season for the Saints will be two out of state games with Summerville High in South Carolina and Hewitt-Trussville in Alabama.
Once Cedar Grove returns to Georgia, the program will be an away team for two more games against Columbia and McEachern before their bye-week. Cedar Grove reached the semi-finals in the playoffs before getting bumped by Calhoun in a 14-6 loss.
Lithonia High
Last season, Lithonia High finished with a 4-8, 2-4 record in 2017 but 2018 will relatively be an unknown for the team in Region 5-AAAAA.
St. Pius
St. Pius X had to face Marist in Class AAAA’s semi-final round but one of those programs had to win and St. Pius wasn’t the one. Last season St. Pius dueled to reach the semi-finals after starting 0-5 on the season.
This year, St. Pius will have nine seniors starting with three-years of starting experience.
Lakeside
Lakeside High will have a new head coach this year but the goal of the new coach is to change the culture of the program.
Columbia
Unlike a few other schools, Columbia will have the same coach they had last year back on the headsets. Columbia was a playoff team last year and will be a team looking for a repeat performance this year.
Decatur
Decatur is looking to change their culture this year after finishing 4-6, 3-4 on the season.
Chamblee
Chamblee High finished 1-10 on the season with their only victory coming against Druid Hills.
Dunwoody
Dunwoody finished the season with a 3-7 record in 2017 but in 2018 and the Wildcats will be looking to finish better in 7-AAAAAA.
Redan
The Redan Raiders are working with a new coach who isn’t as new as the rest of the teams. Redan’s coach returns after being with the program in 1992-93. The Raiders finished 3-7, 2-5 last year.
McNair
McNair was another school that struggled in 2017 finishing with a 3-7, 1-6 overall record.
Towers
The Towers Titans will be a team looking for better in 2018 after finishing 4-6 overall.
Southwest DeKalb High
Southwest DeKalb did well in 2017 to make the playoffs but a 56-0 shutout to Rome High cut the promising season short. With a new season on the horizon, SWD could be in the playoff chatter again as another contender.
Martin Luther King Jr.
MLK finished 4-6 last year which was an improvement compared to the 2-8 season in 2016. MLK will look to continue improving in 2018.
Clarkston
Clarkston will be looking for positives this season after finishing 1-9 on the season.
Stone Mountain
Stone Mountain didn’t finish well for the past two seasons with 1-9 records in each year but 2018 is a new chance for the program to progress forward.
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