Although the first half looked a lot like the blowout loss Decatur suffered the opening week, the Eagles made sure they did not finish the same way.

Decatur’s second half rally came up just a little short as they fell 37-30 to the Springtown Porcupines.

“I told them the score does not matter,” Decatur head coach Kyle story said about his message at halftime. “I want to be able to turn that video on in the morning and see 11 guys going all out for 24 more minutes. That second half was something we can build off of and get better for district.”

The Eagles (0-2) trailed 37-10 heading to the third quarter. They immediately came out of the locker room and responded with a 61-yard scoring drive capped off by a Ethan Currin touchdown.

Decatur’s defense picked things up in the second half, after allowing Springtown quarterback Colby Moore to throw for 281 yards in the first two quarters.

The Eagles shut out Springtown in the second half and allowed the offense a chance to climb back in it, and that is exactly what it did.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, Decatur struck again when Jared Durdon intercepted a Moore pass and returned it to the 6 yard-line. Max Junkert scored two plays later from three yards out to cut the Porcupine lead to 37-23.

After a near miss on an onside kick, the Eagle defense held again. Decatur got the ball back and marched 72 yards in eight plays capped off by a Levi Rust 1-yard run to get the Eagles within a touchdown.

Decatur came up empty on the ensuing onside kick to end the game.

“If you can feel good about a loss, you can feel good about this one,” Story said. “We were down 37-10 at the half and came back and get within seven points of them. We had a chance so I felt really good about it.”

Moore owned the first half for the Porcupines, torching the Eagle defense early and often. The first score came in the first minute when he found Dillon Springfield for a 43-yard touchdown strike.

Decatur answered right back with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Grayson Muehlstein to Durdon to tie the score at 7.

Moore scored again on the next drive with his legs, scampering in from 50 yards out to give Springtown the lead for good.

Decatur cut the score to 14-10 near the end of the first quarter with a Clark Allen 38-yard field goal.

That would be as close as the Eagles would get as Moore threw three more touchdown passes in the second quarter to help Springtown pad its lead.

Decatur seemed to panic a bit in the second quarter, going to the air often to try to force the big play.

“We probably did,” Story said about abandoning a little too early in the first half. “We just didn’t stay patient enough and run the ball like we should have.”

DECATUR … 10 … 0 … 7 … 13-30
SPRINGTOWN … 14 … 23 … 0 … 0-37

FIRST QUARTER

Springtown – Dillon Springfield 43 pass from Colby Moore; Javier Reynoso kick
Decatur – Jared Durdon 10 pass from Grayson Muehlstein; Clark Allen kick
Springtown – Moore 50 run; Reynoso kick
Decatur – Allen 38 FG

SECOND QUARTER

Springtown – Springfield 63 pass from Moore; Reynoso kick
Springtown – Ryan Hester 15 pass from Moore; Reynoso kick
Springtown – Coy Machac 12 pass from Moore; kick failed

THIRD QUARTER

Decatur – Ethan Currin 5 run; Allen kick

FOURTH QUARTER

Decatur – Max Junkert 3 run; kick failed
Decatur – Levi Rust 1 run; Allen kick

DECATUR … SPRINGTOWN

First downs … 24 … 21
Rushes- yards … 242 … 129
Passing yards … 80 … 323
Total yards … 322 … 452
Comp-Att-Int … 9-14-0 … 20-32-1
Punts … 4-22.8 … 1-45
Fumbles lost … 0-0 … 0-0
Penalties yards … 6-38 … 11-90

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Decatur, Levi Rust 24-140; Springtown, Colby Moore, 10-84
Receiving – Decatur, 4-61; Springtown; Dillon Springfield, 2-105; Coy Machac, 4-101
Passing – Decatur, Grayson Muehlstein, 9-14-0-115; Springtown, Moore, 19-31-1-330