|
 The mighty
green’s defense allowed just a single touchdown, and forced the
Decatur MacArthur General’s to punt from inside their own 10 yard
line in a hard fought first half.
The Railers
flew to the ball played with an intensity during the first two
quarters that the winless football squad had not seen all season.
“The second
quarter, just before halftime we were hyped,” senior running back
Cam Cook said.
Cook’s early
touchdown gave the Railers their first lead of the 2014 season.
“”Our guys
definitely came out ready to play,” Railsplitter Head Coach Andy
McDonald said. “The guys were battling hard.”
The Railers
were winning the battle, and almost leading the game.
With just
minutes left in the second quarter, the Railers again had a chance
to score but came up just short.
Then came
halftime.
And one quarter
later, what was a 6-6 game had become a 20-6 match handily in
MacArthur’s favor.
“It was me and
Jaquay Owens, we just told (the team) ‘We have to just come and play
and compete’,” the General’s senior quarterback Shawntrez Spates
said after Friday’s game.
Spates
accounted for all five of MacArthur’s touchdowns, running for three
and passing for two others.
“He’s more
impressive in real life,” McDonald said of Spates’ performance on
the field vs the scouting report. “He was just so quick and
elusive…We contained him the first half. I think he came out the
second half just determined not to go down.”
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Cook said after
the halftime break the Railers were just flat.
“We played as
hard as we could. Nobody gave up,” Cook added. “(MacArthur) just has
a wicked good team.”
The General’s
senior leader Spates said the Railsplitters may have lost the game,
but showed their heart and desire.
“They competed
with us for the first half,” Spates said. “Lincoln had a great
football game. We took ‘em lightly, I want to give a shout-out to
Lincoln.”
The
disappointing second half soured what had been a festive mood at
Friday’s game.
Parents filled
the stands for not only the football, band, cheerleaders and dance
team.
This weekend’s
homecoming festivities had the Homecoming Court featured as well.
MacArthur moves
to 5-2 on the year, and is now playoff eligible. Lincoln drops to
0-7.
The Generals
will host the Rochester Rockets next week. Lincoln will look for its
first win of the season next Friday in Jacksonville.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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