On Friday, Aug 19, the Decatur High School (DHS) Bulldogs were defeated 38-7 by the Flowery Branch Falcons. This loss marked the first regular season loss, and second loss, including the scrimmage against Carver High School (CHS). Despite recent years of success, Decatur’s slow start to this football season has fans and players concerned for the future of the program .
Hoping for a win, in their first regular season game, DHS ventured to Flowery Branch High School. Decatur’s defense was slow to start, conceding a touchdown 30 seconds after kickoff and another 10 points in the remainder of the first quarter. Despite the struggles in the first quarter, Decatur’s defense held strong in the second quarter, allowing no points to be scored and keeping the score to 17-0.
After a kickoff return for a touchdown by Junior William Smiley right after halftime, Decatur seemed to be mounting a potential comeback. After several penalty-ridden drives, however, Decatur was stopped while the offense of Flowery Branch scored 2 more touchdowns. Decatur entered the 4th quarter down, 31-7.
Decatur faced similar issues in the fourth quarter. As Senior Captain Asa Bailey said, “We kept shooting ourselves in the foot and weren’t able to execute on either side of the ball.”
Throughout the entirety of the game, Decatur struggled on offense and was unable to move the ball into the red zone.
According to Bailey, as the team goes into the game against The Wesleyan School on August 25th, in order to succeed, they need to keep a winning mindset. “Our biggest enemy is ourselves so if we minimize mistakes we will have success on Friday.”
Bailey claims that the Decatur team wants to win the second straight region championship and make a deep run in the playoffs, but the team has challenges to overcome before achieving this.
One of which is that the team has been unable to keep key players healthy so far this year Bailey claimed.
“I fear that our team will never get to 100% health-wise,” Bailey said.
Despite the adversity the DHS football team has faced so far, Bailey and many of his teammates are still optimistic about this year.
In the upcoming game against The Wesleyan School, the Bulldogs hope for a big win against a competitive program.
Over the last two seasons, DHS and Wesleyan have begun to foster a rivalry. This first began in the 2021-22 season, when Decatur defeated The Wesleyan School 13-6 in a defensive battle. This game was pivotal for the Bulldogs that season, as it would later help them accelerate into the 5A GHSA top ten ranking for the first time in 17 years.
Last season, DHS defeated The Wesleyan School 30-28, narrowly winning in a close game on the road.
In this year’s game, both programs have an opportunity to regain momentum after tough losses in week one. On Friday Aug. 18, Wesleyan was defeated by The Mount Vernon School 23-20. Entering the 4th quarter, The Wesleyan School led 21-3, but the lead soon diminished when Mount Vernon scored with less than two minutes left remaining.
Decatur High School will face off against the Wesleyan School at 7:30 on Aug. 25 at the Decatur High School Stadium. Tickets for this game are purchasable on gofan.
