Junior Bulldogs continue winning streak

— The junior Decatur Bulldogs continued their winning streak, defeating the Western Yell County Wolverines 35-6 at a game in Bulldog Stadium Thursday night.

“They were really big and fast, the best team we’ve played,” said head coach Shane Holland of the competition.

Nevertheless the Bulldogs prevailed. Lineman Kyle Shaffer recovered a fumble and made a touchdown for the third game in a row. Victor Urquidi scored four touchdowns during the game and his twin brother Mario, who plays wide receiver and defensive back, also made some big plays, both receiving the ball and on defense, Holland said.

Allen Castaneda ran the ball quite well during the game and offensive lineman Meng Vang also made quite a few plays in the game, Holland said.

“Meng Vang is a very good player and very smart,” he said.

The junior Bulldogs will face the Danville Little Johns on Thursday. A win could clench the conference championship for Decatur, Holland said.

Senior High Football

The Senior High Bulldogs lost 32-21 to the Western Yell County Wolverines at a 4-2A conference game in Havana Friday night.

The win brings the Wolverines up to 1-6. Decatur dropped to 1-4 in conference play and 1-6 overall.

“It’s a very disappointing loss because it’s one that we felt like we could have won, probably should have won, and we didn’t get it done,” said Holland.

The Bulldogs caught the opening kick-off and scored on the first few plays, but the Wolverines also scored on their first possession.

Offensively, the Bulldogs showed improvement thisweek, Holland said, although they came up short after losing sophomore running back Trey Kell on the first possession of the night. The plan was to play the three-wide package, but after losing Kell, there was no other player who knew how to play his position.

“It took us out of the game,” Holland said.

Junior quarterback Evan Owens, named player of the week, was the leading rusher of the game. Offensively, Owens had 18 carries for 63 yards and made two touchdowns, the second on an interception in the fourth quarter.

“He made some big plays for us in all three phases of the game,” Holland said.

Senior running back Joe Castanada ran the ball very hard during the game for a total of 54 yards, Holland said.

Nou Thor had two interceptions.

“We had some chances and we just came up on the short end,” Holland said.

Decatur will host the Danville Little Johns, with a record of 5-2, for homecoming Friday night. The coronation ceremony will be held at 7 p.m., followed by the game at 7:30 p.m.

Sports, Pages 10 on 10/18/2011