By TONY McINTYRE
Call ’em Rakestraw’s Runts or Dinky Devils, if you want to, but call Druid Hills High undefeated after three football games Saturday night.
The visiting Red Devils of coach Jim Rakestraw came from a 13-12 halftime deficit to defeat 8-AAA darkhorse Tucker, 22-19, at Adams Stadium before a near capacity crowd.
While senior running backs Tommy Southard and Keith Honeycutt ripped off large chunks of turf during the evening and quarterback David Middour directed the offense brilliantly, the educated eye rightfully directed praise to the midsized offensive line, first and foremost for the way Druid Hills ate up the clock.
“Those little people should not be doing what they are,” said former Tucker football coach Terry Hodges, now supervisor of physical education for the DeKalb school system. “But they are.”
“They execute about as well as any team I can recall seeing in a long time.”
While the Red Devils’ defense had a much tougher time with the Tigers, now 1-1 with two previous foes’ defenders rose to the occasion twice in the second half inside their own 20 when the issue was still in doubt.
Particularly outstanding during the evening defensively for Rakestraw’s team was senior 6-0, 220-pound tackle Mike Cutting, playing probably the best game of his career.
In the end, the issue was settled by Mike Goodwin’s 20-yard field goal with 2:20 left in the game.
It gave Druid Hills a 22-13 lead, and although Tucker roared back for a final score with 1:09 left, the issue was by then settled, especially after Tucker’s two-point try failed.
The Devils have risen. Pass it on.
The Druid Hills Red Devils, now 3-0 for the season, have risen from the ashes of last year’s 3-7 season and look like they are on their way to what could be more than just a winning season.
And that information had best be passed on to anybody the Devils play from here on out.
Last Saturday night at Adams Stadium Druid Hills took on 8-AAA Tucker and won, 22-19. And Druid Hills looked good.
“We’re just elated with them, really,” said Red Devil coach Jim Rakestraw. “Especially David Middour. He called 95 percent of our plays that game.”
Druid Hills had a total of 329 yards offensively against Tucker, 265 of those yards rushing and 64 passing.
In two of their three games, Druid Hills has totaled more than 300 yards.
And Middour was outstanding. He completed five of nine passes for 43 yards, one of those being a touchdown pass, and rushed for 25 yards on seven carries.
“David’s called the plays and made us the option,” said Rakestraw. “That makes a difference. He was really deceptive. I even lost the ball two or three times.”
Middour has thrown for a touchdown in every game so far, one in the first game with Briarcliff, two in the second game with Lithonia and one in the game with Tucker.
Tommy Southard also had a good night, rushing for 114 yards in 20 carries and running for two touchdowns of four and six yards.
Southard also threw one time for 21 yards and caught one pass for 16 yards.
Keith Honeycutt rushed for 100 yards on 17 carries and scored one touchdown which was called back.
“He had some really tremendous second-effort plays, I felt,” said Rakestraw.
And David Adams, a fullback, picked up 26 yards in seven carries.
Randy Tanner caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Middour for his second TD catch of the year.
Honeycutt had 27 yards in returns and Cary Ulman had eight yards in returns.
And then there was Mike Goodwin.
Goodwin iced the game for Druid Hills in the fourth quarter with a 20-yard field goal.
Defensively, Mike Cutting was just outstanding, according to Rakestraw. Cutting made more than 10 individual tackles and threw the quarterback for losses several times.
Cutting also stopped Tucker’s two-point conversion try in the final minutes of the game.
Also on defense, Al Shepherd recovered a fumble, Steve Mullins recovered a fumble that set up a touchdown and Dennis Yarbrough intercepted a Tucker pass deep in Druid Hills territory.
Rakestraw said that he felt Glen Bourgeois, an outside linebacker, Pat Kelly, defensive halfback and Cary Ulman, a safety, had outstanding defensive games.
The Red Devils were able to sustain drives, one in the fourth quarter that kept time minutes on the clock.
“The credits got to go to our offensive line for that,” said Rakestraw. “They were led by the excellent blocking of Randy Tanner at tight end. The whole interior line was outstanding.”
