Decatur Boys Open States on Road

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's men's varsity soccer team will enter a brave, new world tonight when they hit the road to face Northeast High of Anne Arundel county in its first-ever Class 3A-East playoff game.

Like all of the other Decatur sports teams, the Seahawks are playing in a new division in the post season thanks to a move last year from Class 2A to Class 3A because of expanded enrollment figures. As a result, the Decatur is the only school on the Eastern Shore in the higher class and as such will have to travel to sites on the western shore for playoff games against higher seeds.

For example, Decatur is seeded 10^th in the Class 3A-East bracket and will go on the road to face Northeast today in the first round of the state playoffs. The winner of that contest will face second-seeded Bel Air early next week in the second round, so if the Seahawks beat Northeast, they will turn around and hit the road again next week.

Decatur finished with an 8-4 record in the regular season including a 5-3 mark in the Bayside Conference. Unlike other years, however, the Seahawks will not face familiar foes such as Parkside, Bennett or Easton, for example, in the post season this year. Those schools remain in Class 2A and garnered three of the top four seeds in the 2A-East region along with first-round byes while Decatur is the 10-seed in the 3A and has to hit the road for a first round game.

The Seahawks finished their regular season last Thursday with a 2-1 overtime loss to county rival Pocomoke. The Warriors scored first to take an early lead, but Decatur knotted the score at 1-1 on a goal by Jim Walls. Pocomoke's Sam Byrd settled the issue once and for all with a goal on a free kick early in the overtime period. Prior to the loss to Pocomoke, Decatur had won three straight including victories over Kent County, Snow Hill and Parkside.