Decatur football survives late scare against Blanchet

A historical night took place on Nov. 8 at Federal Way Memorial Field when the Decatur Gators football team made it to the state tournament for the first time in school history.

“Our state road is going to be a lot tougher, but we are used to tough games… Our brotherhood and our bond is going to carry us through,” said senior Taeron Clay.

Decatur beat Bishop Blanchet 39-29. It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t how the Gators wanted to play. But sometimes, you just got to find a way to win the ugly ones, and Head Coach Matt Vaeena’s squad did just that.

“We definitely expected to play better… There are some expectations that they should have played better. There were also nerves as well. We were here last year and had nerves, and nerves definitely won today,” Vaeena said.

Decatur has been a school for 53 years, and never has that name been written or typed in a state football bracket. But now, that has changed. For Vaeena, who is in his seventh season, it’s a dream come true — but a dream that seemed so far off when he started.

“It is surreal. I don’t think I ever thought this far ahead seven years ago. I was just trying to do right by the students and the players and just build a program… To be here now, it is surreal,” Vaeena said.

As far as the playoff picture goes, this was a game Decatur was supposed to win and supposed to win handily, but it was anything but easy. The Gators were the unofficial fourth seed in the Week 10 playoff round, while Blanchet was the 28th seed.

Blanchet also had just three wins all season, and due to a Metro league rule, just snuck into the playoffs despite there being teams with better records left out. But the Bears did not play like a three-win team.

QB Spencer Holloway took no time getting loose and on Decatur’s first possession ran away from everyone, zigging and zagging his way 70 yards into the endzone.

It seemed like from there it was just going to be a typical Decatur game against a team with an under .500 record. But Blanchet had other ideas.

The Bears drove the length of the field on a drive that was aided by penalties and took the lead over Decatur on a Mason Mandell seven-yard reception.

A theme on that first drive was penalties. A theme of the game was penalties and a theme of the year for the Gators were penalties. Decatur has a penalty problem and it comes down to discipline.

“It’s something we are going to keep harping on and keep focusing on… There were a lot of unnecessary ones that we had tonight and those are things we have to eliminate,” Vaeena said.

But the Gators’ offense kept rolling. A touchdown from Nehemiah Washington and a 52-yarder from Holloway put Decatur in the driver’s seat up 20-7 early in the second quarter.

“He’s made so many plays over the course of his high school career. Tonight was a really good night for him…We trust him in tough situations and he did it tonight,” Vaeena said.

Decatur just lacked the killer instinct, as Blanchet found another response, cutting the lead down to six, 20-14.

On the next Decatur possession, Holloway found freshman Scottie Dinwiddie on a 76-yard touchdown. Then Decatur intercepted Blanchet and with 1:12 left in the half, and scored again with Holloway finding Dinwiddie once more. At the half, Decatur led 32-12 and received the second half kick.

“He’s always had that physical ability to make plays. When he came in during fall camp, we knew he was a playmaker right away,” Holloway said.

Not only is Dinwiddie a budding star, but he also is an “A+” teammate: “He’s a hell of a teammate. He always goes to bat for his guys … He has that number one wide receiver mentality,” Vaeena said.

But the momentum was snatched when Holloway threw an interception on Decatur’s first drive, and Blanchet scored back-to-back touchdowns. At the end of the third quarter, Decatur’s lead was cut to just three points, 32-29.

Decatur had just four plays in the third quarter on offense.

Why did this happen? Well, there are a few factors. Blanchet came out with a different energy in the second half. They started the half off with an onside kick, and Decatur recovered. But after their first touchdown after the Holloway interception, they did it again and this time recovered.

That took the air out of Federal Way Memorial Field and despite just three wins, the Bears were able to move the ball on the Gators.

The other reason is depth. Decatur had a multitude of depth players on the sidelines including players like Michael Havili, Idris Heyliger and Omaha Lutu-Ili.

Another was penalties. Decatur extended and aided almost every Blanchet drive with a penalty. The Gators have had problems with them all year, but at this time of year against these opponents.

“It’s just discipline… We just have to be more mentally sharp,” Holloway said.

“There were some calls that didn’t go our way, but then there were some that were definitely on us,” Clay added.

Decatur did finally answer, with the pressure and the nervousness that blowing an 18-point halftime lead brings with a score late to put the Bears away. Holloway found Maddox Heyliger on a wide receiver screen and Heyliger pushed his way into the endzone for the 39-29 lead.

“Heyliger wanted this really bad. To know how much it meant to him and the seniors and for him to cash it out, was the best feeling about the touchdown,” Vaeena said.

With limited time and a 10-point deficit, Blanchet needed to push the ball, and on their first play from scrimmage down 10. Jasonni Prum sealed the game for Decatur with this fourth game-clinching interception of the season (he had interceptions vs. Enumclaw, Skyview, Federal Way).

But when the game finally ended, there was no celebration, and the team was clearly bothered with the way they played. In the big wins this year, there was so much elation and excitement. There was none of that this time around.

“We are not satisfied just making it to state. That’s a good team, but I think we should beat them by more than that,” Holloway said.

Taeron Clay is a part of a lineage of Gators — his dad Brad coaches, and his brothers JC, Jordan and sister Cierah all went to or currently attend Decatur. TC, as he is referred in the program, has been a Gator before he could even officially be one.

“It’s awesome. I grew up in this program. I have people texting me and talking to me that they went to Decatur and they are so happy for us. It’s bringing a community together,” Clay said.

Decatur is now in the round of 16 and they were given the seventh seed and take on the tenth seed, Mount Tahoma, on Nov. 15.