Seahawks soar into 2A championship after miracle comeback win

BERLIN, Md. – The champions will defend their crown.

Decatur erased a 20-point third quarter lead, defeating Westlake, 27-20, in overtime Friday night in Berlin.

Westlake led 20-0 late in the third quarter with two touchdowns from Devin Cox, and one from Caleb Phillips. The Wolverines would convert on two out of three extra points.

With the season on the line, the defending 2A champs began a furious comeback.

The Seahawks engineered a 68-yard drive on the ensuing possession. Quarterback Johnny Hogbood found Zakhari Baker streaking down the sidelines for a 38-yard touchdown to get the home team on the board in the final minute of the third quarter.

The Wolverines had a golden chance to end the game, opening their drive at the Decatur 41-yard line with 8:26 remaining. Davin Chandler stopped the Westlake back one yard short, forcing a turnover on downs.

Decatur’s next drive was a five-play march down the field. After 68 yards and 1:04 time off the clock, Nathan Tapley ran the ball in for Decatur’s second score of the night.

With 4:34 remaining, the Seahawks once again had the ball with 74 yards to gain trailing by six.

Decatur went to their ground attack, running the ball on eight of nine plays to advance inside the Westlake-10.

Hobgood found Davin Chandler in the flat, the senior diving in for the game-tying score, sending the home crowd into a frenzy and the game into overtime.

In the extra period Hobgood kept the ball and ran in for the score, while the defense forced two incompletions to send the Seahawks back to the championship game.

When catching up with Head Coach Jake Coleman he had this to say about his team’s performance.

“They went down, they responded like champions, and they never hung their heads. They didn’t let the weight of the end of the season possibly weigh on them and all the expectations. They just grinded and I’m not surprised from this group at all. We’ve just gotta focus on getting better every day and give ourselves a shot.”

Decatur will play the three seed Huntingtown in the MPSSAA 2A state championship Saturday, December 7 at 3:30 PM at Navy-Marine Crops Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.