Decatur senior running back Jamari Fletcher runs past defenders en route to a 57-yard rushing touchdown in the Eagles’ 68-0 District 5-4A Division I homecoming win over Fort Worth Carter-Riverside Friday at Eagle Stadium. MICAH MCCARTNEY | WCMESSENGER

Behind a strong performance in all three aspects, the Decatur Eagles celebrated homecoming and opened their District 5-4A Division I schedule with a 68-0 shutout win against Fort Worth Carter-Riverside Friday at Eagle Stadium. 

The win was Decatur’s second straight, as the Eagles improved to 2-2.

 “It takes so long to get into district play, and you definitely want to start off with a win because half of the teams in your district don’t,” Decatur coach Steve Huff said. “Of course, it’s always big to win the homecoming game, as well. We concentrated a lot this week on cleaning up our messes that we’ve had in the first few weeks. I thought we played much cleaner tonight — we had two offensive penalties in the first half and a face mask call late that was an aggressive penalty. If we don’t take care of ourselves, it doesn’t make a difference who we play. I think we’re taking great strides now, but we’ve got to keep getting better every week.”

Huff liked the well-rounded effort from the Eagles, calling the victory a complete team effort. 

“It’s great to get kids the opportunity to go in and play, and to really get after it,” Huff said. “The great thing about it is that when some of these kids get that chance, they’ll go in and play their tails off like they did tonight. Hopefully, that’s what we’re all about.” 

Decatur sophomore quarterback Rhys Ragan completed five of his six passing attempts for 110 yards and four touchdowns in Decatur’s 68-0 Week 5 District 5-4A Division I homecoming win against Fort Worth Carter-Riverside Friday at Eagle Stadium. MICAH MCCARTNEY | WCMESSENGER

Decatur’s dominance was established quickly on offense, as sophomore quarterback Rhys Ragan threw for four touchdowns in the first half. He connected with senior wide receiver Chase Berg on three scoring strikes totaling 78 yards, and added an 8-yard touchdown throw to senior wide receiver Jett Jenkins. 

Ragan completed five of his six passing attempts for 110 yards in the victory. 

“I think the win tonight was really a good way to give us a positive mindset as we start district play,” Ragan said. “[Chase] is like Calvin Johnson out there — he just makes plays whenever you need him to make plays. I know when I throw it up there, he’s going to make a play regardless.”

 The Eagles also tacked on a 7-yard touchdown run by senior running back Jake Milligan.

Not to be left out of the fun, Decatur’s special teams and defense put points on the scoreboard. Sophomore wide receiver Wyatt Dunn went virtually untouched on an 80-yard put return, while sophomore defensive back Colton Braziel corralled a fumble — his second turnover in as many games — and carried the ball into the end zone from 48 yards out to give the Eagles a 49-0 halftime lead. 

Decatur wide receiver Chase Berg grabbed three touchdowns and finished with 78 receiving yards in the Eagles’ 68-0 District 5-4A homecoming win over Fort Worth Carter-Riverside Friday at Eagle Stadium. MICAH MCCARTNEY | WCMESSENGER

After a 57-yard touchdown run by senior running back Jamari Fletcher to start the second half’s running clock, the Eagles were able to get their reserve players a taste of the action underneath the Friday night lights. Decatur tacked on a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs by sophomore running backs Akilyz Rivera and Cooper Duncan, measuring 2 and 85 yards, respectively. 

The Eagles finished with 369 total yards of offense, including 259 rushing yards on 18 carries. Duncan’s long touchdown run led Decatur’s ground attack, while Milligan racked up a team-high seven carries for 48 yards. 

Decatur will hit the road for the first time in league play next week. The Eagles take on Fort Worth Eastern Hills in a Week 6 showdown 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2 at Scarborough-Handley Field. The Highlanders entered their Week 5 5-4A opener against Fort Worth Western Hills at 2-2. The teams’ Week 5 final score was not available at the time of story publication.

Last season, the Eagles shut out Eastern Hills at home, 55-0.

“I don’t know very much about [Eastern Hills], other than that they are very big and athletic like they were last year,” Huff said. “What I do know is that we’ve got to continue getting better, so we’ll take a look at Eastern Hills after we watch tonight’s video, and go from there.” 

Decatur defenders Casen Cooper (24), JG Marchi (16) and Wesley Morton (15) work together to bring down Carter-Riverside running back Ryan Walters in the Eagles’ 68-0 Week 5 victory Friday at Eagle Stadium. Decatur’s defense limited Carter-Riverside to just 118 rushing yards in the win. MICAH MCCARTNEY | WCMESSENGER

Key takeaways

Ragan-Berg connection paying dividends for Eagles

Senior wide receiver Chase Berg has become Decatur’s security blanket on offense, grabbing both contested and wide-open passes and converting them into touchdowns. Now playing with his third quarterback in his career, Berg has quickly established a strong rapport with sophomore signal-caller Rhys Ragan. The pair connected just three times in the Week 5 win, but all three catches were for touchdowns — twice for 31 yards, as well as a 16-yard scoring pass. Through the first five weeks, the Eagle duo has been responsible for 385 yards and six scores.

“Whenever I catch the ball, I just want to score — that’s my main goal,” Berg said. “Rhys has grown tremendously a lot from last year. We played a lot during 7-on-7 in the summer, and that’s really where we started building that connection together. It’s really paying off for us now.”

Eagles’ defense overpowers Carter-Riverside

Carter-Riverside’s offense was left flummoxed by Decatur’s defense all night long. The visiting team made just one journey onto Decatur’s side of the field, but fumbled while facing 3rd and 4 at the Decatur 9-yard line. Decatur’s defense completely shut down Carter-Riverside’s passing game (0-for-2), and surrendered just 118 rushing yards. 

“Our motto on the defensive side of the ball is “Do your job,'” Decatur defensive coordinator Kyle King said. “Against a team like [Carter-Riverside] that runs their Slot T/Wing T stuff like they do, you just have to do your job and play your assignment, and I thought we did that well. We stressed all week long on the defensive line about dominating the line of scrimmage. They guys put in a lot of work this week, and that’s probably the best we’ve played all year long.” 

Decatur looking to contend for league title

Like its first year in District 5-4A Division I last year, the Eagles will seek to stack up wins against the Fort Worth ISD schools, ultimately leading to a battle for the district title against league rival Springtown. The Eagles lost the title fight last season, but are gearing up to grab the crown away from the Porcupines in coach Steve Huff’s fourth season at the helm.

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