Decatur punches ticket to first-ever football championship game

BERLIN, Md. – In a year of firsts the Decatur Seahawks added yet another first Friday night, defeating Milford Mill, 35-34, and advancing to the MPSSAA 2A football championship game.

Decatur raced to a three-score lead in the second quarter, driven by strong special teams play.

Following a Brycen Coleman rushing touchdown to give Decatur a 14-7 advantage, the Seahawks capitalized on a Millers miscue. A snap over the Miller punters head was scooped up by Careen Bolden, and taken to the house. The following drive, the Miller punt was blocked and recovered by Ethan Bradshaw.

Coleman found Bolden in the end zone on the ensuing drive, and the Decatur crowd was in a raucous frenzy.

That 21-point lead would slowly evaporate.

Deshawn Purdue launched a Hail Mary from midfield that was hauled in on a diving catch by Oliver Redd Jr. as time expired on the first half.

The Millers added three more scores in the second half, and thanks to 27-unanswered points, found themselves ahead by six with six minutes to play.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to them, they didn’t quit when we went up by 21,” Coleman said after the game.

Needing a spark Decatur called an audible, using Bolden behind center and shifting Coleman to wide receiver.

It worked.

“That’s something we always had in the back pocket,” Bolden said. “They called my name and I showed up in the biggest moment.”

Bolden orchestrated a drive that ended with a 5-yard quarterback scamper into the end zone. Brogan Eastlack’s extra point gave Decatur a 1-point edge.

The Millers were unable to punch through the Decatur line on a fourth-and-short on their next drive, handing the ball to the Seahawks at midfield.

Coleman says the loss to Milford Mill in the playoffs helped Decatur seal the deal this time around.

“I think it was just our leaders from last year. The guys that had it taken away from them at the end. They had the ball driving and we got the stop, that’s what we didn’t do last year.”

The final nail in the coffin was a Coleman quarterback draw on fourth-and-1 up the middle for the game-clinching first down.

“It just feels great to do it with these guys, I love these boys to death. We just put it all together today,” said senior Gavin Solito.

And there is still one more first for this flock of Seahawks – a state title.

“We’ve got to keep it going, we’ve got to make a little more history,” Coleman said.