Rebels break Bulldogs’ bite in second half

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

DECATUR - It was a hard-fought match-up between the Decatur Bulldogs and the West Side Rebels, but ultimately the Rebels prevailed, defeating the Bulldogs 36 to 29.

The game was played at Coal Hill on Oct. 4 and was the first away game for the Bulldogs.

Junior running back and defensive back Mario Urquidi did not play. He was still plagued with the bruise he received in the game with Mountainburg on Sept. 20. His absence on the playing fi eld was felt by his teammates.

The Rebels struck early, making a touchdown in the fi rst quarter. They would make one more in the fi rst half.

Not content to be shut out, Decatur put two touchdowns and points after to tie the game 14 all before the first half was out.

But the second half was a different story for the Bulldogs. West Side came out strong, scoring 22 points to the Bulldog’s 15.

Shane Holland, Decatur’s head coach, put it simply: “We couldn’t shut them down.”

West Side handed Decatur its fifth defeat of the season and the first on the road.

“Special teams played very well this game,” Holland said. “I think returned four kickoff/punts for points in the last two games,” He added.

Allen Castaneda, a junior, returned a punt for an 80 yard Bulldog score, while Terry Kell, a junior, returned a kickoff for an 83-yard score. Between the pair, the special teams ran a total of 206 yards.

Decatur had a strong rushing game behind the efforts of Castaneda, Meng Vang and Miguel Garcia. They ran a combined total of 180 yards on 30 carries.

Holland admits that Decatur’s weakness is in its passing game.

“There are three things that need to come together to make a great passing game,” Holland said. “Number one is the quarterback’s accuracy, number two is receivers holding onto the ball, and three is the offensive line keeps the defense off the quarterbacks. We lack all three. Our completion rate is around 24-25 percent, and that’s not good,” Holland added.

When junior quarterback, Victor Urquidi, had to sit out the entire football season with a shoulder injury, the job fell to Vang. Vang’s inexperience as a passer showed in the West Side game, completing only 4 out of 12 passes for a total of 26 yards. The bright side of this story is that Holland has two more years to work on Vang’s passing game.

“We have a young teamthis year,” Holland said. “We only have two players returning from last year’s team. There are nine new players on both sides (offense and defense). This inexperience has hurt us all year.”

“We need to win the last three games to have a shot at the playoffs this year,” Holland stated.

The good news for Decatur is that next year many of the players will return. Their experiences this year will only help to make them stronger next season.

But Bulldog fans can still take heart. There are four more games left in the season, plenty of time to make a miracle happen.

With the coaching abilities of Holland, John Unger and Jason Porter, lightning may still strike.

Game Stats Decatur West Side Firstdowns 8 13 Penalties 4 5 Penalty Yards 20 35 Decatur Offensive Stats Passing: 12 attempts, 4 completions, 26 yards Rushing: 30 carries, 180 yards Receiving: 4 receiving, 26 yards Yards total: 412 Kickoff and Punt returns: 5 kickoff returns, 206 yards, Longest return 83 yards Points: 4 touchdowns, 2 conversions, 1 field goal, 29 points total Decatur Defensive Stats Tackles: 45 tackles, 23 assist, 68 total Sacks: 2 Fumble Recovery: 1

News, Pages 9 on 10/09/2013