DECATUR -- In their final home appearance of 2018, members of the Decatur Bulldog and Lady Bulldog soccer teams were honored during the senior night observance April 26 at Bulldog Stadium in Decatur. The Bulldogs ended the evening's celebration with a big victory over the Bergman Panthers.
Before the match, Alex Lee, William Barrios, Alexis Gramajo and Sebastian Perez, along with Leticia Fuentes, Amethyst Guo and Maritza Matul from the Lady Bulldogs, were presented with framed photographs commemorating their time as Bulldogs. Absent during the ceremony was Airbus Dungsungnoen.
Decatur took control of the match from the opening kick. Three goals by William Barrios and one each by Sam DeLeon and Jason Gomez gave the Bulldogs a 5-0 lead over the Panthers in the first 40 minutes of action.
One more goal in the second half sealed the win for the Decatur Bulldogs, 6-0, over the Bergman Panthers.
The Bulldogs attacked the goal 19 times during the 80-minute contest. Jimmy Mendoza led the attack with four shots, followed by Alexis Gramajo and Sebastian Perez each with two. Rounding out the shooting attempts were William Barrios, Sam Deleon, Roger Hernandez and Jason Gomez with one each.
Sebastian Perez was the starting goalkeeper for Decatur. He made one save. Lauro Molina, who played brilliantly as one of Decatur's backup goalkeepers this season, guarded the net in the second half, making one save.
The Decatur Bulldogs were to travel to Dardanelle April 30 to take on the Sand Lizards in the final regular season match of 2018.
In other Bulldog soccer action, the Decatur junior varsity team hosted a tournament at Bulldog Stadium April 28. Junior varsity teams from Life Way and Prairie Grove, along with Decatur, faced off on the field for a series of 30-minute games. Officiating for this event were Decatur coach Sheldon McKinzie and senior high team member Kelvin Moreno, with Jose Rubi, William Barrios and Carlos Perez serving as line judges.
Serving as the temporary Decatur coach was three-year veteran Jimmy Mendoza, who won his first game against the Tigers.
Life Way took the contest with the most wins, followed by Decatur and Prairie Grove tying for second.
Even though the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs failed to make the post-season tournaments, seven members of the boys' team and one from the girls' made the 4A All-Conference team. William Barrios, Jason Gomez, Rigo Rubi, Sebastian Perez, David Davilla, Seth Rich and Jimmy Mendoza, along with Kylee Morales received the good news May 9.
And the honors continued as Sheldon McKinzie was named 4A Conference Coach of the Year.
Sports on 05/16/2018