Decatur High School’s football season came to an end on Friday, Nov. 15th with a playoff loss at Buford High School. However, the 2019-2020 football season was one to remember for the Bulldogs, because it was the first time the team had made the state playoffs in 15 years. This year, Decatur won 7 of their 10 regular season games, much better than their 4 out of 10 wins during the previous season. 

The loss against Buford was one that shouldn’t take away from the amazing season that the team had. Before the Buford game, Sophomore Nahshon Smith explained that, “Buford is a really important game to the community”, and added that “we will put heart and soul into this game (against Buford).” However, the game ended in an unfortunate loss for Decatur.

While their season may have come to a sudden end, many players on the team have seen this season as the turning point for the team’s future. Smith feels that this season was successful in “putting us (Decatur) on the radar.”

 Smith attributed this season’s success to the fact that “the team has a chemistry where they are able to feel each other, are familiar and comfortable with each other and can manage themselves as teammates.” It was apparent that there was a strong bond between the players through the way they communicated on and off the field.

This year, the team showed many times how they wouldn’t let the disappointment from previous seasons affect their outlook into this season. The main goal for the 2019-2020 season was to “improve each and every week,” Smith said. Decatur was under pressure ever since they beat Kipp in the opening home scrimmage, and they didn’t disappoint. The community saw the team’s potential and were excited to see them continue their success. Decatur went undefeated for over half of the season, and ended the regular season with only 3 losses.

Some notable parts of the season included a season opener home victory of 51 – 0 against Lakeside and a Homecoming blowout victory of 42 – 10 against Lithia Springs. The team is only losing 5 seniors going into next year, and there are a lot of current juniors and sophomores looking to continue the success of the team.