DECATUR -- The Bulldog soccer team traveled down Arkansas Highway 59 to take on the Gentry Pioneers on April 15 and brought home a win.
The Bulldogs came to win and the fast-paced style of Coach Barry James overwhelmed the Pioneers as they tried to keep up with the Bulldogs. For most of the first half, Gentry was on the defensive, trying to keep the ball out of the net but to no avail. Decatur scored three goals before the halftime buzzer.
With one minute left in the half, Decatur was knocking on Gentry's door. From the sidelines James was shouting at his players to shoot the ball.
"Let's get one more score," James shouted. "Shoot the ball, I want one more score."
Try as they did, Decatur failed to get the ball into the net before the half ended.
The Bulldogs came out with the same determination to win the game as they did in the first half. They managed to put two more goals on the board. Unfortunately, a penalty against Decatur got one called back.
But the Bulldogs managed to keep Gentry scoreless in the second half to take home another road victory, defeating the Pioneers 4 to 0.
Decatur's next game was at home in Bulldog Stadium where they took on the Dardanelle Sand Lizards April 18.
Before the game, James gave his team a little pep talk.
"You must win this game by two in order to hold the second seat in the playoffs," James stated." It is very important to keep your heads in the game, very important."
That speech worked because the Bulldogs came out with one thing on their minds, to beat the Sand Lizards by two points.
The ball crossed back and forth across the field for 20 minutes until Dardanelle put the ball in the net. This was the only point in the first half.
The second half was a completely different story as Decatur took the field still determined to get the three points needed to not only beat the Sand Lizards but also to win by two points.
Decatur kept attacking the Sand Lizards' net until they scored. By the end of the game, Decatur had scored two of the three points they needed, defeating Dardanelle but failing to win by two. The final score was 2 to 1.
Still the Bulldogs will play in the district tournament but will have to settle for a lower seed.
"Don't worry, we are still in the tournament," James said." You played a very good game and we won."
The Decatur Bulldogs are now 6 and 6 overall with four more games left in the regular season.
Sports on 04/23/2014