Tucker 36, Cedar Grove 14
He may not be the most heavily recruited of this typically talent-laden Tucker bunch, but he knows how to open a show.
Tucker fullback Dallas Rivers had 12 carries for 114 yards and three touchdowns, as the Class AAAAA No. 2 Tigers opened the season with 36-14 win over Class AAA No. 8 Cedar Grove.
At 5-foot-11, 183 pounds, he looks more like a battering ram than most of Tucker’s lean, fast backfield mates. Speed may kill, but sometimes it’s just as effective to run through a would-be tackler as it is to run around him.
“I’m a combination of both – speed and power,” Rivers said. “I love contact.”
It was far more than just Rivers, though, for the Tucker rushing game. Rivers, Yusuf Minor and Joseph Farrar all rushed for more than 100 yards, and each scored at least once as the Tigers amassed 408 yards on the ground.
That’s the gameplan that’s kept Tucker near the top of the state for several years now, and it worked perfectly out of the gate once again.
If there was any question what these Tigers would look like after two-time state champion coach Franklin Stephens left in the offseason, consider those questions answered.
“We’ve got a lot of the same guys in place,” Tucker coach Bryan Lamar said. “Coach (Todrick) Malone, our offensive coordinator, had a great gameplan going in; he’s been our offensive coordinator for the past six years. We pretty much tried to keep things the same; we’ve got a great formula put together.”
It was no different on the other side of the ball either.
Things started bad for the Saints (0-1) and didn’t get much better. They began the game’s opening drive on their own 1-yard line after a botched kickoff return. Then, on the first play, Tucker’s Joseph Farrar yanked Jamir Hannah down in the end zone for a safety.
That was just the beginning for a Tucker defense that rarely let up, particularly during a first half when Cedar Grove was held to 50 total yards and had negative yardage on nine of its 23 offensive plays.
The Saints got a little bit more going in the second half, but it was one dimensional, too little and far too late to catch up with Tucker.
For Lamar, it was the debut he wanted to see from his Tigers.
“This is what we wanted,” Lamar said. “These kids know me. I know Tucker. I’ve been there. I love the guys; I love the community. We just wanted to get back to rolling.”
C 0 0 6 8 – 14
T 9 6 21 0 – 36
T – Joseph Farrar safety
T – Dallas Rivers 13 run (Steven Duffy kick)
T – Yusef Minor 23 run (pass failed)
T – Rivers 10 run (Duffy kick)
C – Shane Ward 30 pass from Johnathan McCrary (kick missed)
T – Rivers 44 run (Duffy kick)
T – Farrar 29 run (Duffy kick)
C – Deion Sellers 51 pass from Johnathan McCrary (Chandler Ector pass from James Hartfield)
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65 comments Add your comment
ChantheMan
August 27th, 2012
9:02 am
Look at it this way both MLK AND STEPHENSON lost their scrimmages to teams they should’ve beat.Yall are talking about tucker playing teams that haven’t won a game yet come on now. Stephenson and MLK should stay of the Tucker Blog until then. In all honesty we should all go get a life and stop arguing about highschool football yikes!
Sportsmommy74
August 27th, 2012
11:01 am
Hey CG Fan, that’s not nice… Lil Nick, does whatever the coaches ask him to do. Duke is one of the best and no one is taking that away from him. There are other players on the squad that are good too. They lost the game as a team and not as individuals, lets not start attacking high school boys.
Uncle pete
August 27th, 2012
11:27 am
@cg fan thanks for the blessing you must have a real important life trying to put a kid down .I think his stats. Speak for him 35 rec. 500yds 5tds and threw one Td off. Def. 2 ints. 1 pick for a Td 30 tackles 20 break ups. Since you are watching him so much check the stats .of the other kids that made all state and all dekalb county and all region . I think his parents did not have anything to do with that . Once again cg fan thank you for the blessing.
The Scout
August 27th, 2012
11:53 am
@CG FAN!!!! First of all, I am NOT Everett Nicholas’ mother or father!!!! I know D. McGee can play however, his responsibilities Friday night didn’t allow for him to make the plays we are accustom to. McGee had a good game Friday but Everett Nicholas had a pick (interception) and I spoke on it. Now, if you had read all my blogs you would have seen I spoke on Deion Sellers and Shane Ward’s performances also. I highlighted all the positives and spoke negatively about NO ones child. What kills me about all this is Fans hating on kids. If you want D. McGee to be blogged about then sit down Friday night after the game and type what you saw. Just the facts!! and we can talk about it. Secondly, Everett’s dad is suppose to work with him. What father that wants his child to succeed wouldn’t. Furthermore, parents have told me that Everett’s father is a dad to all those kids at Cedar Grove and will work with any child that wants to get better. What more can you ask for? You sound like you have a personal beef. This is not the forum for personal beefs. Lastly, Everett has been putting in a lot of hard work and it shows on Friday night. As a matter of fact, all Cedar Grove’s players are working hard. Stop tearing kids down and reinforce them ALL with positivity. Everett was a preseason Class 3A All-State WR/DB for a reason. I think Everett’s hard work and past performances is what got him that status. What he does on the field speaks for itself! Plus, It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the fight in the dog. No lobbying needed!
Laser
August 27th, 2012
2:04 pm
coach – was very surprised to see McCray throwing laterally as much as he did. I was at the game and granted I’ve only seen him play this one time, but I really thought CG would challenge Tucker’s defense vertically down the field. I don’t know if they didn’t because of pressure off the edge or because they thought they might exploit Tucker’s linebackers. If your stats are accurate, he only averaged 9.8 yds per completion.
rwdekalb
August 27th, 2012
3:21 pm
Why all the hate for Tucker from the Stephensen posters. It sounds a little like fear.
DEKALB FAN
August 27th, 2012
4:26 pm
Tucker was too much for the Saints have some good players i dont know them by name but number 7, 5, 16,10 and 1 were init to win it, they looked undersized to Tucker players but they played their ass off , but i have been wtching Minor and Rivers for the tigers and they are some horses and their line just man handled the Saints.Mccrary i watched over the years and it seems he still throws the ball high and not accurate on short passes, but vanderbilt will fix that, i hope he sets the record this year though.
CGHS Fan
August 27th, 2012
7:11 pm
#4 and #52 and #15 were in it to win as well, if we gonna start calling out individuals call them out as well. Bryson, Antwuan and Brandon worked their butts off too. Antwuan had some good blocks to protect Johnny, Brandon tried to catch the ball. Bryson, had two tackles that stopped two sure to be touchdowns. However, they still lost. This isn’t about individual effort, isn’t football a team sport? This is the type of stuff that will tear a team apart. They lost! Get over it and focus on the next game. Tucker beat that butt. It happened. They highlighted ALL of CG’s weaknesses. Good luck to them the rest of the season.
overmatched1
August 27th, 2012
7:25 pm
To all of u stephensen posters why do u have so much hate for tucker is it because yall have 15 or more d1 every year and have not won a ring yet and tucker has 2 in five years with less talent and we run from no challenge just calm down we will c in a few weeks so all the talking can stop we dont brag we just let our talking on the feild speak for us oh and please dont let a first year coach out coach your legendary coach
5AReg6Fan
August 27th, 2012
10:14 pm
WOW, a lot of crazy comments on this blog. The bottom line is that Cedar Grove was simply OVER MATCHED and it show from quarter #1 to #4. CG may makes some noise in their classification, but to step up 2 levels and play one of GA’s TOP POWERHOUSES, is a lot to ask. In all honesty, if Coach Lamar (Tucker) hadn’t call off the Tigers, the outcome would have been very lopsided. People, I’m for all a little fun and chest beating, but let’s keep the kids, their family structures and their names out of the discussions, on a medium that cannot be deleted. Thank goodness for some of the CG parents who made comments to improve their kid’s and communities, but CG is not the only team that has adults to assume the positive role in a kid’s life.
To the Stephenson supporters – Your first regular season game is fast approaching. I’m sure you want mind we Tucker fans commenting on your blog, since you are good to express your opinion on Tucker’s blog. Yes, time is approaching when the Tigers and Jags, will settle things between the white lines. Remember this; The Tigers do not fear Jaguars. (Period) Tucker doesn’t have to prove their ranking, HISTORY and ACCOMPLISHMENTS these has been recorded.
ONE DOWN, 14 TO GO!!!!!
“WE ARE TUCKER”
REGION 6, the best in GA 2012 5A Football……
JAB
August 27th, 2012
11:11 pm
Dekalb County really needs to review it’s Athletic financial policy, that is why they are losing some good coach’s.http://www.macon.com/2012/08/25/2149933/back-to-his-roots-franklin-stephens.html
Mccrary Family
August 28th, 2012
7:53 am
Proud of you Nick, stay strong!!
"J"
August 28th, 2012
9:32 am
@JAB Not only do they need to review policy’s, they need an external auditor to review too!! Too much money is being made from Dekalb County Football but we have the worst compensation and stadiums! Halford Stadium is awful! Most of our venues only have “one side” seating for both opponent’s fans. How can that be in 2012? Can you spell – “MISAPPROPRIATION”?
Mccrary Family
August 28th, 2012
9:59 am
The bottom line we are all in this togather, when one Dekalb school win we all win, we don’t have the fiunding like other counties, thats why we lose good coaching.Dekalb has Great players and very good schools, lets stand togather against others and play hard against each other thats what make us better and stronger,GO SAINTS, CONGRATS TO YOU TUCKER!
"J"
August 28th, 2012
11:17 am
@ McCray Family … Amen!! We got to get the county administrators to there part by giving us the facilities we so deserve. Go everybody!!