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| Decatur, Ala. | Sunday, May 19, 2013 |
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9/28/12
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7093 views
Decatur uses special teams, defense to stun No. 1 Hartselle
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HARTSELLE — There was no hesitation.
As Deacon Aldridge was pressured out of the pocket and forced to throw a fourth-down incompletion deep in Decatur High territory, the Red Raiders’ sideline simultaneously erupted in elation.
Defenders were welcomed with chest bumps and high fives as they ran off the field holding their fists in the air.
There was no holding back the celebration — and it was warranted.
The upset happened. Behind sound special teams and defense, Decatur ended one of the state’s longest winning streaks at 19 games with a 21-14 win Friday night at Class 5A No. 1 Hartselle.
“There is no describing this feeling,” Decatur defensive end Na’Vante Williams said. “Everyone came together. Everyone was determined to take this back. This was a huge win for us. There’s no question about that.”
Pitted against a Hartselle defense that’s considered one of the best in north Alabama, Decatur (3-2) willed its way to a marquee win the old-fashioned way.
With sound special teams and gritty defense.
In fact, the biggest star of the game likely won’t find his way onto any television highlight reels.
Clinging to a seven-point lead with less than three minutes remaining in the game, punter Jackson Walraven kicked a booming punt from around midfield that pinned Hartselle (4-1) on its own 4-yard line.
“I knew I had to get it down there,” Walraven said. “The only thing going through my mind was that I had to catch the snap and get a clean punt off. I got great protection, and when I saw the ball was downed at the 4, I knew our defense was going to get us the win.
“This is pretty surreal. The energy in this locker room tonight, it’s the best I’ve ever been in.”
Decatur needed every bit of the distance, because as expected, Hartselle’s Cardiac Kids didn’t go down without a fight.
Hartselle has needed fourth-quarter rallies for two of its four wins. The Tigers nearly pulled off another dramatic finish. Aldridge completed several tough passes, and Hartselle overcame two personal fouls that put the Tigers in a first-and-39 situation, to drive deep into Decatur territory.
But Decatur got the biggest stop of the game when the Red Raiders needed it most, forcing Hartselle to turn the ball over on downs at the Decatur 24 with three seconds remaining.
“Our coaches put together a great game plan and the players came out and did a fantastic job of executing,” Decatur coach Jere Adcock said. “It’s like we talked about earlier this week, this game was going to come down to defense and special teams, because that’s a great Hartselle team over there.
“This was our most complete game of the year — something we can definitely build on.”
Adcock is correct about special teams. Decatur’s specialists made more than one play that was, well, special.
Two of Decatur’s three touchdowns were the result of special teams heroics.
After Hartselle took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards on 15 plays to get a 1-yard touchdown run from Aldridge, a Decatur specialist immediately answered. Tae Hayes returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards for a score.
Special teams struck again in the fourth quarter. With the game tied at 14 apiece, Trae Hayes blocked a Hartselle 37-yard field goal attempt and returned the ball to midfield. Three plays later, Decatur quarterback Jackson Fite took a third-and 17 situation and scrambled 34 yards for a key first down that set up a 14-yard touchdown run from Josh Matthews.
Matthews finished with 66 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.
“That play Jackson made in the fourth quarter was huge,” Williams said. “The blocked punt and the plays by our two Jacksons, the first down run and the punt, those were by far the biggest plays of the game. We needed every one of them because Hartselle is as good as advertised. They’re extremely physical and will hit you in the mouth. Those are the kind of teams I love to play against.”
Even though Hartselle’s offense struggled to find the end zone in the second half, the unit consistently moved the ball between the 20s. The Tigers outgained Decatur 364 to 206, and Aldridge accounted for 268 yards.
Aldridge finished with 191 yards on 20-of-31 passing, and he ran for 77 yards on 20 carries. The senior quarterback threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Zane Hamlett in the first quarter.
“We just didn’t execute well enough to win,” Hartselle coach Bob Godsey said. “Decatur played really well, but we kept putting ourselves in bad situations. But all is not lost. In the bigger picture, this may be the best thing that could have happened to us. Now we’ve just got to regroup and get back to work, because we’ve got another tough game coming up.”
Hartselle travels to play Class 5A No. 2 Muscle Shoals next week in what is one of the state’s marquee games. Decatur travels to Bob Jones.
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Way to go DHS!!!!
Hopefully the loss to DHS will get HHS focused as they prepare for #2 5A Muscle Shoals next week. Congrats to DHS and undefeated AHS.
Decatur scored on a kick-off return on it's first possession tying 7-7. Did you go to the game DD?
Decatur probably won because they are wet and hartselle is dry. They can use the alcohol money to buy better athletes. haha. Good game Decatur. Maybe now Hartselle will pull their head's out of their butt's and start playing good football again. For the record the alcohol comment was a joke. Vote no
Anthony, do you get a vote in Hartselle????
Hartselle deserved to lose after their students poor sportsmanship againist Athens. A dozen of Hartselle students throughout the game blew loud horns when Athens was on offense.
Does Hartselle play Muscle Shoals at home?
Should have known Decatur would get a front page on both the Sports page and the Front page oh by the way
GO BLACK BEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we got a little piece of the Raider Daily!
Hartselle has a great team that is well coached. They fought very hard to the end. I hope they win out and win state again.
Hartselle's coaches are poor sports! I'm sure that attitude passes on to players and students.
yes, i do charles. Thanks for asking
Its gonna be hard to win State with 2 defeats cause they gonna get a beating at the end of the year!!!!!! A-HIGH!!!!!!!!!!
John you don't follow/understand high school football much, do you?
Oh yeah, and John D, y'all are still Austin
Nice work Decatur. I bet it hurts.
Shannon, a kickoff return is not considered an offensive possession. By the time Decatur's offense snapped the ball for the first time the game was already 14-7. Decatur's defense was on the field almost the entire first quarter, much of the second, and still had gas in the tank at the end of the game. Conditioning matters.
Hartselle came out and used their speed on the edges to put together two touchdown drives in their first two possessions. Decatur's coaches made some adjustments to help contain that speed but more significantly their players just refused to let Hartselle pull away, and Hartselle didn't score any points after those first two possessions. The blocked field goal ignited a fire on the Decatur sideline that Hartselle couldn't put out. The mood shifted from "We can win this game" to "We are going to find a way to win this game". They had many opportunities on Hartselle's final possession to get frustrated and let it slip away but they stayed disciplined and executed what the coaches were asking them to do: play deep coverage on defense and concede the short passes underneath that forced Hartselle to burn time off the clock as they moved down the field. Even if Hartselle had made the first down on their final offensive play, they had no timeouts left and may not have gotten another play off with only 00:03 remaining.
John D, there are four 5A-6A high schools in the Decatur Daily's core coverage area (Draw a line from Athens through Decatur to Hartselle). Two of them played last night and played an exiting game. The underdog defeated the defending 5A state champion ranked #1 in the state and on a 19 game winning streak. Why wouldn't it be front page news? When Austin & Decatur played it was on the front page as well as the sports section. I would imagine when Austin and Hartselle play it will be as well.
John D, Hartselle is 5A, Decatur and Austin are 6A. If Hartselle finishes the season with no losses in their region they would still be the #1 seed from their region entering the playoffs. The only way the two out of region losses might come into play would be in determining home field if they play a #1 seed from another region and both had played an equal number of home games in the playoffs up to that point.
A-HIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for Chris!!!!! you can tell the people at Decatur Daily went to Decatur High that is all I am saying and it shows also!!!!
why do you hear more about hartselle in the decatur daily than decatur or austin? doesnt hartselle have a local paper also?
M is on top of it. John D not so much. Probably a displaced yankee like many over there on SW and he thinks high school is like college ball. John, like M said, if hartselle has two non region losses it will not hurt their state championship chances. Let me guess, you're from Michigan?
My prediction is Hartselle finishes regular season at 7-3 but go deep in playoffs
M is on top of it. John D not so much. Probably a displaced yankee like many over there on SW and he thinks high school is like college ball. John, like M said, if hartselle has two non region losses it will not hurt their state championship chances. Let me guess, you're from Michigan?
My prediction is Hartselle finishes regular season at 7-3 but go deep in playoffs
Hartselle had gotten a little too big for their britches. Especially, their QB. All he knows how to do is keep the ball tor himself and try to make a run when he clearly has open receivers. And when the play is busted or he gets sacked, he hobbles over to the sideline like he's hurt or something. Give me a break and quit trying to be the hero and a ball hog. The "ripping your shirt open" as if you're trying to be Superman when you score a TD is not flattering. Wait til y'all travel to Muscle Shoals next Friday night and see what that Dee Liner does when he jacks that Hartselle QB up! Good game DHS! You guys gave the Hartselle Tigers what they needed. But, kudos to HHS and winning 19 in a row and a State Championship last year. That is a great accomplishment and something some of those boys on that team will be proud of and can never take away from them.
Chris you are an IDIOT!!!!!! Born and raised in Decatur!!!!! Unlike you!!!!!!!!!
John D, your ignorance is showing. Losing to Decatur and Austin has absolutely no impact on Hartselle making the playoffs and winning state again. You obviously don't have the capability to understand that so I advise you to keep quiet. You also whine about coverage in the daily when Austin was the top headline on the sports page. You really look foolish.