DeKalb County rivals Tucker and M.L. King take center stage for their third ever meeting during week three of Football Fridays in Georgia on GPB. The Tigers and Lions have split the series the last two seasons with M.L. King posting a 24-17 win in 2012, followed by Tucker’s 60-34 victory last season.

After reaching the GHSA 5A state championship game last December before losing to Creekside, Tucker has started 1-2 this season after moving up to 6A. The Tigers picked-up their first win of the season last week with a 77-0 rout of Stone Mountain after two tough losses to start the season: a 32-29 (OT) heartbreaker versus two-time state champion Norcross and a 19-7 defeat by defending national champion Booker T. Washington out of Miami.

Tucker finished last season 14-1 with their only loss coming in the state finals. The Tigers won 4A state championships in 2008 and 2011 (the only 15-0 season in program history). Led by third-year head coach Bryan Lamar (25-6), Tucker has not lost more than three games in a season for 14 consecutive years while winning at least 10 games in 12 of those 14 seasons with a cumulative record of 162-25 during that stretch.

M.L. King has started this season 0-2 with a 30-0 loss vs. Miami Norland followed by a 34-0 defeat by Mays this past week. The Lions were 7-4 last season after going a combined 23-2 over the previous two seasons (2011-12).

M.L. King has reached the GHSA state playoffs in 11 straight seasons, or all but the first season of the program’s history. The Lions advanced to the state semi-finals in just their third year of football back in 2004. M.L. King is led by first year coach Nicolas Kashama, the program’s fourth head coach in as many seasons.

Players to Watch: The highest-ranked prospect in the game will be Tucker’s Jonathan Ledbetter who flipped his commitment from Alabama to Georgia last month. The 4-star Ledbetter is the 247 Sports Composite rankings #5 DE in the nation.

Ledbetter is joined on the Tigers’ star-studded roster by 3-star CB Duke Shelley who is committed to Kansas State, 3-star OLB Elijah Sullivan who is committed to Auburn and Marshall 3-star commitment Delvin Weems, who is the 247 Sports Composite #22 APB in the nation. M.L. King’s recruiting class is led by 3-star OG Kwan Stallworth whose offers include Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Pitt.

Another great edition of Football Fridays in Georgia comes your way, live from Hallford Stadium in Clarkston. Join me, former Atlanta Falcons star Chuck Smith and Sam Crenshaw on the game call starting at 7:30 pm, following our All-Access Pass pre-game show with Jon Nelson, Claire Simms and Grace Olson starting at 7pm. Be sure to tune in!