DECATUR - Both the junior and senior high Bulldogs lost to Union Christian last week.

The junior high team lost 22-14 during their final game of the season on Thursday. The game was extremely close and Decatur had the ball right before the first half ended and again at the end of the game.

“In both cases we ran out of time on the clock. If we had more time we would have had a victory,” said head coach Stan Ellis said ..

Mario Urquidi and Allan Castaneda both scored during the game, Ellis said. The loss leaves the record at 5 and 3 in conference, Ellis said.

Union Christian shut out Decatur’s senior high team on Friday with a 44-0 loss.

Decatur was simply unable to keep up with Union Christian’s running backs, according to Ellis. The team has two players in particular that are extremely fast, he said.

Union Christian’s Mohammed Matlock scored three touchdowns during the game and Matt Callaway added two. Callaway caught two touchdown passes from Cheyenne Rogers, the first covering 50 yards in the first quarter and the second covering 53 in the second quarter. Callaway finished with 109 yards receiving and he added 75 yards rushing on 6 carries.

Matlock also scored on a 50-yard punt return and on an 85-yard kickoff return that opened the second half.

Rogers completed 5 of 15 passes for 143 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Union Christian held Decatur to minus-3 yards of total offense and didn’t allow a first down.

Despite the loss, Decatur played a clean game, Ellis said. The Bulldogs faced the challenge of having six to seven players out with injuries, but still had 22 players dress for last Friday’s game.

Next Friday the Bulldogs will be playing Magazine, which is one of the best teams in the state, according to Ellis. Magazine is ranked number four inthe conference and is undefeated.

“They’ve literally handled everyone they’ve dealt with,” he said.

Friday will also be seniors night for Decatur. The game starts at 7 p.m. on the home field.

Ellis optimistic about next year

Because Decatur didn’tfield a football team last year due to lack of participation, the fledgling team faced an uphill fight this season. The Bulldogs started the year with only three players with high school experience. Next year, Ellis said he expects to have as many as 20 players with high school experience, which will be a big bonus to the team.

Lack of participation is no longer a problem for the Bulldogs.

Ellis said he is happy with the number of players, and although the team is still incredibly young, they are making notable progress from week to week.

“I’m optimistic about next year, I really am,” he said.

Sports, Pages 12 on 11/03/2010