After a close game against Pace, (7-8), an unfortunate loss against Tucker, and a major 61-7 loss against Southwest DeKalb, many Chamblee Bulldogs were looking forward to the game against our unofficial rival school, Decatur. So far undefeated, the Decatur Bulldogs have been dominating this season. This coupled with the fact of the frequent penalties, made for a tough game for our Bulldogs.
Chamblee started off the game with a win of the coin toss, meaning they would start the game with the ball. They manage to get to the 39-yard line, landing them a solid position to start off with. A solid play by #22 got us to the 25-yard line by the 2nd down. On the first down, #17, Edward Reed (‘26), pushed through Decatur’s defense and made it to the 10-yard line. However, Chamblee was held off on the second down, only 12 yards away from the endzone. On the 4th down, Chamblee decided to take the field goal, but the kick missed, ending Chamblee’s turn on offense.
Decatur started off at the 20-yard line but was held off by Chamblee’s defense for a gain of 6 yards. Chamblee’s defense held Decatur again for the 2nd down by #4, Jacob Hawkins (‘26), for only a yard gained. Decatur was held off yet again for a gain of only 4 yards. Decatur was stopped until they kicked the ball all the way to the 7-yard line. Chamblee held off Decatur the entire time they were at that 7-yard line, but Decatur managed to make it to the endzone when sent back to the 50-yard line, scoring the first touchdown of the game.
After Decatur’s touchdown, Chamblee didn’t make much of a play until #22 managed to run the ball down to the 24-yard line. Unfortunately, this play was revoked by the referee, meaning that this play did nothing and the ball would be taken back to where it was before the play. Chamblee made little leeway until Decatur caught a kicked ball downfield and managed to get to the 30-yard line, where they were tackled by #17, Edward Reed. Decatur managed to use that momentum to score another touchdown, thus essentially ending the 1st quarter.
The beginning of the 2nd quarter meant Decatur would start with the ball. Chamblee effectively defended and Decatur only gained about 10 yards. Chamblee managed to hold off Decatur yet again only allowing them to get to the 25-yard line. However, a holding call against Decatur gave them a 10-yard penalty, sending them back to the 35. Decatur steadily fought their way down to the 5-yard line where a timeout was called by Chamblee with only 1 minute left in the first half. Chamblee held off the Decatur Bulldogs yet again, thus concluding the first half 0-14.
Decatur started off the 2nd half strong with 2 field goals, setting the score 0-20. However, after a long game of defense, Chamblee pushed through and finally scored their first touchdown of the game. #14, Isaiah Jordan, received the kick from Decatur and ran down the field to score the touchdown, setting the score 7-20.
However, this was the only major offensive Chamblee play of the game. Both offense and defense worked hard, but it was not enough to win the game.
As the game went on, Chamblee did not score any more points, while Decatur kept slipping through our defense: touchdown after touchdown, field goal after field goal. Unfortunately, Decatur won the game 43-7.
When asked about the game, Coach Swank has a very constructive opinion on what happened.
“The defense played hard and made some big plays, and for a good portion of the game, shut down their running game,” said Swank.
While the defense played well and stopped several important plays from Decatur, what could’ve been done better?
“Offensively, we’re making a lot of mistakes that are just shooting ourselves in the foot, so we’re trying to clear up those mistakes… Honestly, it comes down to not screwing up. We had a lot of procedural penalties. On Friday night we were misaligned, which cost us penalties. We had several big plays that got called back because of our own fault, so we’re working hard in practice to fix those procedural problems,” said Swank.
After going 0-4, it’d be easy to see how team morale may be low.
“The players are aware that our schedule this season is far more difficult than it’s been in a long time. That’s been a big topic within our program: keeping our morale high because the first five games on paper are by far the five most difficult games. If we can keep a positive attitude and keep some energy, when we hit that second half of the season, we should be in a lot better place than we are right now,” said Swank.
The Chamblee Bulldogs have their next game today, September 20, 2024, against Woodward. Make sure to go out and support them if you can!
