DECATUR — Victor Urquidi locked eyes with the quarterback, then made an athletic play on the ball. The Decatur sophomore reached up and tipped the ball, then stumbled a couple of times before finally pulling in the interception. Instincts took over from there as Urquidi ran 32 yards for a touchdown.

The defensive score was one of several highlight plays for the emerging Urquidi in Decatur’s 52-14 win over Western Yell County on Friday at Bulldog Field.

“I knew he was going to be under pressure,” Urquidi said. “So I looked back to see who he might pass it to. I dropped back and I knew I had it as soon as I tipped it. I was like, ‘I’m going to get this ball, I’m going to get it.’”

The Bulldogs (4-3, 3-2 2A-4 Conference) have been accustomed to mercy rule games, but this year it’s Decatur who’s celebrating at the end. Entering the final three games of the regular season, the Bulldogs have playoff aspirations.

“These feel better being on this end than the otherend,” Decatur coach Shane Holland said. “We were on enough of those last year.”

Decatur scored 29 points in the first quarter, punctuated by Urquidi’s pick-six. Prior to that it was the Urquidi-led offense that dominated as the quarterback scored a pair of touchdowns.

“He’s OK,” Holland said of Urquidi. “Tonight I was real pleased with our passing. We didn’t throw that much, but when we asked him tothrow the ball, he threw the ball accurately and threw it to the right guy.”

Urquidi was perfect on both pass attempts, including a 25-yard strike to Andrew Harris that set up his 1-yard touchdown run with 4 minutes, 18 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Wolverines (0-7, 0-5) were victims of their own mistakes in turnovers, fumbling three times and having two interceptions returned for touchdowns.

Sports, Pages 12 on 10/17/2012