River City Rivalry: Decatur travels to Austin for the 60th meeting
Aug. 24—Two football teams coming from different directions collide Friday night in the River City Rivalry.
Decatur visits the Black Bear side of town coming off the high of a 64-0 road win over Mae Jemison last Friday. Austin enters the game from a low place after getting beat at Hartselle, 45-17, last Friday.
It makes for an interesting dynamic in the 60th game in this crosstown matchup. Austin has won the last seven meetings and some of those wins were by large margins, but the point margin has gotten closer in recent years. Austin had to rally in the fourth quarter last year to win 17-13.
The only past that both head coaches are thinking about this week is what happened last Friday in their team's season opener.
Decatur definitely had the better experience with the blowout win over Mae Jemison at Alabama A&M. Decatur led 28-0 after the first quarter. The offense rolled up nearly 400 yards of offense. The defense had four turnovers. Decatur played 65 players.
"The best thing that happened was we went over there and took care of business like we were supposed to do," Decatur head coach Jere Adcock said. "Sure it was a big win, but there were a lot of hiccups that gave us room to improve."
Senior quarterback Ellis Dickman completed seven of nine passes for 162 yards and a touchdown. Running backs Ryan Kirk (Sr.) and Dayton Swoopes (Jr.) each found the end zone twice. Senior defensive backs Josh Turner and ZJ Matthews led with five tackles each.
Austin head coach Jeremy Perkins has definitely had more enjoyable visits to Hartselle, but he likes that his Black Bears have the opportunity to bounce back with another game vs. an old rival.
"This team still has a lot of potential and can have a great season," Perkins said. "It wasn't a great start, but we know what we need to do to get better.
"On defense, we couldn't stop the big play. A lot of the time we were like a step late from making a stop. On offense, it was a really weird night where the little things killed us. Against a really good football team you have a small margin of error."
Austin battled poor field position in the first half vs. Hartselle. It was still a close game at halftime in Hartselle's favor at 17-7, but the Tigers brought the hammer down in the third quarter with four touchdowns.
Austin senior quarterback De'Air Young rushed 14 times for 154 yards, including a 72-yard touchdown. He completed eight of 21 passes for 68 yards and an interception. Senior linebacker Druce Clarke led the Black Bears with 12 tackles. Junior linebacker Solomon Lyle had 10.
"Austin's front seven (on defense) is really good," Adcock said. "I think they are a much better team than they were last year.
"Their quarterback is a weapon throwing and running. They have some really tall receivers that can be tough to defend."
Perkins thinks Decatur's experience helps make the Red Raiders a challenge for Austin, especially when the Black Bears are on offense.
"They play fast and physical on defense," Perkins said. "They have one of the most talented defensive backfields we'll see this season.
"On offense, Decatur has some weapons. They know what they can do and what they want to try to do."
— david.elwell@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @DD_DavidElwell.
