Bulldogs start strong

Junior and senior high teams pick up wins in play last week

— After a year long break, the Bulldogs made a strong start to the football season with two wins in the first week.

The junior high team won Thursday’s home game against Hartford 40-0. Then on Friday, the senior high team traveled to Hartford for a 30-27 win.

“It was a good week to be a Bulldog. Both teams came out and worked hard and got some wins,” said head coach Stan Ellis.

Decatur didn’t field a senior high team last year because of a lack of participation, so Friday’s game was the first senior high win for many of the players, Ellis said.

The team finished the game with a total of 318 offensive yards, 250 of which were rushing yards.

Blake Wilkins scored two touchdowns during the game, Ellis said. He ran for one touchdown and caught a 40-yard pass thrown by Cody Ben for the second touchdown.

Wilkins also scored a two-point conversion.

Brian Cox scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion, and Ben ran for another touchdown during the game.

The leading rusher for the night was Mitchell Perry, according to Ellis.

Perry rushed for a total of 81 yards, and Wilkins was a close second with 70 yards.

Brian Cox gained 54 yards by rushing and 13 carries.

Overall the team made a couple of errors in their kicking game, but played hard and managed to move the ball, Ellis said.

Defensively, the team played a good game, sacking the quarterback five times, with Taylor Pickup, Rigo Lara and Brian Cox accounting for 20 yards of sacks, Ellis said. Ben also recovered a fumble and made an interception.

“Overall, I was pleased with the effort and certainly happy with the win,” he said.

But Ellis didn’t dwell on the victory for long. As soon as the game was over, he focused on next Friday’s game against Mountainburg. Ellis expects the competition to be tough and said that, so far, Mountainburg is undefeated with two wins against good teams.

The Bulldogs will travel to play Mountainburg on Sept. 17. Their first home game will be on Oct. 1 against Johnson County Westside.

Sports, Pages 12 on 09/15/2010