Decatur Fumbles Away Game to Riverwood

Junior wide receiver Terryon Robinson was right on Friday night, but almost everything else went wrong for Decatur in its 31-21 loss at Riverwood.

Three fumbles led directly to two touchdowns and one field goal. Twice Decatur yielded monstrous kickoff returns to Riverwood’s Grant Drakeford, one for 76 yards that set up a second quarter touchdown, then a 94-yard touchdown spree to open the second half, giving Riverdale a seemingly insurmountable 24-7 lead.

Twice Decatur had first downs inside Riverdale’s 10 and couldn’t score. For the second straight week the Bulldogs were whistled for a staggering nine penalties (including seven in the second half) then, to top it off with a rotten cherry, had a player thrown out of the game.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Decatur head coach Price Jones said afterwards. “Just try to write something positive. If you can.”

That’s easy enough, for the lithe Robinson put on possibly one of the most astonishing performances, at least in recent school history. He had seven receptions for 322 yards and three touchdowns, or 46 yards per catch, with an interception to boot.

In fact he had possibly the most incredible 3½-minute stretch since Knute Rockne ranted on and on about the Gipper.

Decatur scored almost immediately after Drakeford’s 94-yard return. On the Bulldogs’ second third-quarter play from scrimmage, quarterback Vito Antinozzi threw to Robinson who, running his patented fade route, caught and ran 75 yards for a touchdown to make it 24-14.

Riverwood’s ran three plays, and on second and 17 Terryon, playing free safety, intercepted a pass at Riverwood’s 33 and scrambed 22 yards to the 11.

“Coach told me to go to safety at halftime,” Robinson said. “It’s the first time I’ve played there all year. That was a little dump pass and it was really Kentrell [Pattillo] who made the play. He tipped it and I just caught it with one hand.”

After Decatur was called for a false start, Antnoizzi threw another fade to the end zone corner. The pass appeared woefully short but Robinson, squeezed between two defenders, reached in front of himself, tipped the pass backwards in the air and then caught it, all before he hit the ground, for a 16-yard score. .

There was still 8:16 left in the third and Decatur, now trailing only 24-21, seemed poised to take over the game.

But if Decatur learned anything on this night, it takes more than one man to win a game.

It also takes more than just some gaudy numbers. Both Decatur and Riverwood ran 46 plays, but Decatur had nearly twice as much total offense, 440 yards to the home team’s 233. Antinozzi had a fairly impressive night completing 14 of 21 passes for 390 yards (Riverwood completed only 4 of 6).

But none of this could overcome the litany of ill-timed miscues.

Early in the fourth, the score still 24-21, a Decatur drive fizzled, Jason Barefoot punted, and on the ensuing return junior Terez Cowan was flagged for throwing a punch. He was immediately ejected and will also be ineligible to play next week.

Riverwood ran three plays, punted, and Terez’s identical twin Perez fumbled the return and Riverwood took over on Decatur’s 19. Three plays later it scored on 16-yard run by Garrett Harris with 6:51 left, essentially sealing Riverwood’s first win in three games.

But perhaps the most heartbreaking sequence for Decatur actually came late in the first half when the Bulldogs had a first and goal at the five, ran fullback Nick Bentley four straight times up the middle and came up a yard short, thus insuring a 17-7 halftime deficit.

“You ask why we ran the ball up the middle four [consecutive] times, but look at this way,” Jones said. “You have a 225 pound halfback (Chris Hambie) a 220-pound fullback (Bentley) and about 800 pounds of offensive line directly in front of them. Seems like you should be able to get five yards without much trouble.”

Defensively linebacker Hambie had another fine game with seven tackles and two assists while outside linebacker Bentley, though he stuggled offensively (he lost two fumbles) had 9 tackles and two assists.

Meantime, besides his two third-quarter touchdowns, Robinson ran a screen 80 yards for a touchdown that brought Decatur to within 10-7 with 9:14 left in the half.

“I really like the screen a lot,” Robinson said. “I like it even more than the fade. It gives me chance to show my speed and outrun everybody.

Maybe, by next Friday, when Decatur (now 1-2) returns home to play Maynard Jackson, the rest of his team will start catching up.