Seahawks Upset Parkside, 28-20

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's varsity football team recovered from a tough loss on its Homecoming to Queen Anne's two weeks ago by returning the favor to Parkside last Friday, beating the Rams, 28-20, to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Just one week after Queen Anne's spoiled Decatur's Homecoming, the Seahawks did the exact same thing to Parkside last Friday, hanging the first loss of the season on the Rams. Parkside entered the game with Decatur at 5-0 and led the Bayside South division, but Decatur jumped out to an early lead, withstood a big comeback by the Rams and held on for an important 28-20 win.

With the win, Decatur moved into third place in the state Class 3A-East standings, inching over closer to securing a playoff spot. Of course, it won't matter what those other teams do if Decatur doesn't hold up its end, and the Seahawks took a big step in the right direction with the win over Parkside last Friday. Decatur wasted no time jumping out to an early lead when, on the opening drive of the game, quarterback Tim Donnelly hit Paul Stortini on a 25-yard touchdown pass to go up 7-0.

Still in the first quarter, Decatur got pinned down on its own 11-yard line before going on a methodical 89-yard drive to extend its lead to 14-0. Parkside came roaring back, however, scoring on its next possession to cut the Decatur lead to seven points at 14-7. When the Rams got the ball back again, they went 59 yards on three plays to tie the game at 14-14 with time running down in the fourth quarter.

However, the Seahawks weren't ready to head into the locker room for intermission quite yet. With around three minutes remaining in the half, the Seahawks went 66 yards for a go-ahead score, the last eight coming on an eight-yard pass from Donnelly to Andrew Brickey.

While the Seahawk offense was having no trouble moving the ball against the Rams, it was the Decatur defense that made what turned out to be one of the biggest plays in the game. Parkside started the third quarter by driving inside the Seahawk 10-yard line, but the Rams fumbled and the swarming Decatur defense recovered the ball to end the threat.

The Seahawks then drove 92-yards to extend its lead back to two touchdowns at 28-14. Decatur went 92-yards on six plays, the longest of which was a 59-yard pass from Donnelly to Brickey. Brendan Chavis then punched it in from four yards out to complete the decisive drive. Parkside scored a touchdown late to cut into the lead, but Decatur held on to escape with the 28-20 win to improve to 4-2 on the season.