Week Ending 8/28/99

QB Andy Lothson Senior DeKalb High School

It would be easy to pick DeKalb running back Cedric Little as our first-ever DeKalb County's Athlete of the Week. He knifed through arch-rival Sycamore's defense for 238 yards. It would also be easy to pick Spartan tailback, Nigel Short, who scampered for 227 yards on 18 carries. It might even be easy to pick the offensive line for both teams, who opened the holes for almost 800 yards of rushing in an exciting game of high school football. It certainly would have been easier for DeKalb's senior quarterback, Andy Lothson, to give up when his team fell behind 42-27 at the end of the third quarter. He didn't. And Lothson is DeKalb County's Athlete of the Week.

Easy? That's how Lothson made it look as he drove his team for an opening score capped by Cedric Little's 10 yard scamp into the end zone. Easy? That's how Nigel Short made it look with his 77 yard sprint to the end zone on Sycamore's first play from scrimmage to answer. Fans in the stands, and there were plenty of them, could have easily thought, "That's nice. At least DeKalb can say they scored tonight." It's been a few years since DeKalb has had much of an offense.

But Lothson was not going to pack it in - nor would he allow his team to. He promptly answered DeKalb's score with a 69 yard scramble for a touchdown. The fans now knew they were in for some excitement. By halftime Sycamore's sophomore, Brad Benson, ran in from 4 yards out; Cedric Little had scored on runs of 78 and 40 yards; and Nigel Short crashed in from 9 yards out. DeKalb went into the locker room leading 27-21.

By the end of the third quarter, however, the fans were easily thinking, "That's nice. At least the DeKalb kids can say they had some fun." Sycamore owned the third quarter. Six yard runs for touchdowns were wild, with fullback John Fay scoring twice and halfback Brian McIntyre plunging in from 6 yards out to make the score Sycamore 42, DeKalb 27.

Quit? Not in Lothson's vocabulary. He engineered a scoring drive to open the 4th quarter capped by a brusing 11 yard run by fullback Rich MacPartland. Then he dropped back and fired a 47 yard strike to split end Robbie Green. And then, aided by a roughing the passer penalty still disputed by Sycamore coach Daryl Graves, Lothson drove his team to pay dirt as MacPartland scored from 2 yards out.

Sure it could have been easy for DeKalb, coached by Dave Bierman, who can count the wins they've had over the past couple of seasons on one finger, to have been satisfied by being competitive against a Sycamore team many believe is playoff bound. But Lothson and Company came to win. They worked to win. Lothson spent his offseason working out and calling classmates to recruit them to play and to work out. And for his gritty display of leadership and competitiveness Andy Lothson, son of Pam and Gary Lothson of DeKalb, is our first-ever DeKalb County's Athlete of the Week.

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