MOUNTAINBURG — It was a tough night for the Decatur Bulldog football team when it traveled to Mountainburg Sept. 23 for the first conference game of the 2016 season.
This meeting was the second for both teams this season. The first was a benefit game at Bulldog Stadium Aug. 23. Mountainburg took the victory in that outing.
The Dragons were one and one coming into this matchup and were looking for their second conference victory. The Bulldogs were looking for their first victory when they took the field at Mountainburg.
Unlike the previous game, the Bulldog defense held back the running play, stopping the Dragon offense from scoring on the first possession of the game. They continued to play well throughout the opening minutes of the first quarter, forcing two Dragon turnovers near midfield to put the Bulldogs in good offensive position. But the offense, led by senior quarterback Leng Lee, had trouble capitalizing on the fumbles, returning the ball back to Mountainburg. Shortly thereafter, the Dragons managed to get the ball into the end zone on a 20-yard run. A conversion gave the Dragons an 8-0 lead going into the second quarter.
Then the bottom fell out for the Bulldogs as three alternating possessions gave the Dragons three touchdowns and two extra points. A third extra point attempt was blocked by Decatur, giving Mountainburg a 28-0 lead going into half time.
The Dragons had a healthy lead going into the third quarter, but Decatur would rob Mountainburg of a shutout toward the end of the quarter when the Bulldogs capitalized on a series of Mountainburg penalties to move the ball to the Dragons' 20-yard line.
On the next play by the Bulldogs, with only a minute to go in the quarter, a Mountainburg player attempted a tackle when he fell on his left arm and broke it. This caused a 15-minute delay in the game while emergency medical services worked on the injured Mountainburg player.
Decatur was unable to score by the end of the third but retained possession of the ball near the 10-yard line at the beginning of the fourth quarter. In an unusual twist of fate, a sudden light rain shower developed over Mountainburg. The skies in Northwest Arkansas were clear except for this one small shower. But a little shower was not enough to stop Lee from crossing the goal line on a quarterback keeper for the Bulldogs' only score. Jimmy Mendoza missed the point after attempt, making it a 42 to 6 Mountainburg game.
One final touchdown and two-point conversion by the Dragons late in the fourth quarter gave them a 50 to 6 victory over the Bulldogs.
"They were a bigger physical team and we knew that going into the game," said Shane Holland, Decatur head football coach. "On the offensive side, we had a lot of trouble blocking but we ran the ball better -- not constant as I would like for them to do, but we will get better as the season progresses."
Decatur is now 0 and 1 in conference play and 0 and 3 overall.
Decatur will return to Bulldog Stadium Sept. 30 to take on the Magazine Leftwich Rattlers in the second conference game of the season. The game starts at 7 p.m.
Sports on 09/28/2016