It was only fitting that Friday night’s game for the Region 4-A title was decided between two teams of Bulldogs.
In a dogfight between Decatur and Chamblee at North DeKalb Stadium, it all came down to a fourth-down play of desperation with a finish that sent one side of the stadium into a frenzy and the other side into disbelief.
With Decatur trailing Chamblee 38-33 with 20 seconds left in the game, head coach William Felton put the ball into the hands of his tight end Tristian Strickland, who is listed on the roster as the backup quarterback to Harrison Hannah. There was nothing wrong with Hannah — he played outstanding in the second half. Strickland just had the stronger arm.
On a fourth-and-10 and 53 yards from the end zone, Hannah tossed it to Strickland, who pulled up to pass as running back Malachi Miller ran down the seam on the other side of the field and pulled ahead of the safety trying to stay with him. Strickland launched it downfield. The pass was perfect, and Miller rumbled his way into the end zone with a defender grabbing at his legs with 11 seconds on the clock. Miller appeared to fumble the ball as he was going into the end zone, but his teammate Kedrick Lackey jumped on it for good measure to secure the go-ahead touchdown.
Decatur (5-4, 4-0) overcame an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit and three turnovers to earn its fourth straight win and a region championship after starting the season 1-4. This one meant a little more than any of the others.
The Decatur student section rushed the field before time even expired, and multiple DHS players dropped to their knees as if they had overcome the world to accomplish the unthinkable when the game looked all but over in the third quarter.
Felton fought to hold back his own tears as his team celebrated.
“I started coaching here in 2008 and I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs,” he said. “We finally got the opportunity where we had it in our grasps and we went out and took it.”
The game turned into a quarterback duel, and each passer struggled in one half and shined in the other.
Chamblee (7-2, 3-1) quarterback Fabian Walker completed 18 of 30 passes for 315 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores, while Hannah went 16 of 26 for 250 yards and a touchdown while racking up 108 yards and three scores on the ground.
“Three-year starter,” Felton said about his quarterback. “He’s the guy I told before the game, ‘It’s going to be dependent on you for us to go out and win this game tonight. You’ve got to be the better quarterback. We know they’ve got a good quarterback over there, but you’ve got to be the better quarterback.’ He did his job.”
Chamblee looked determined to put the game out of reach as it entered the third quarter with a 24-14 lead and immediately drove the length of the field on a 7-play, 80-yard drive that ended in Walker rolling out and finding Tristian Sizemore in the corner of the end zone.
The Bulldogs responded with a 29-yard touchdown pass thrown by Hannah — a rocket in between two defenders to Kenric Lanierx.
Chamblee kept the foot on the gas and scored again on another 80-yard drive as Walker scrambled his way into the end zone for a 7-yard score to make it 38-20.
But the Chamblee offense hit a wall, and Walker completed just one fourth-quarter pass for 7 yards. The Bulldogs of Decatur scored 20 unanswered points, starting with a 7-yard touchdown run by Hannah. The two-point attempt was no good, making it 38-26.
After the Decatur defense forced a three-and-out, the offense mounted a 10-play, 68-yard drive. Hannah took another QB keeper from 3 yards out and bounced to the outside and fought through four Chamblee defenders who tried to stand him up short of the goal line. But Hannah wouldn’t be denied. With a third and fourth effort, he plunged his way in for a touchdown.
“He’s resilient,” Felton said. “He wanted that. He fought, never stopped. He kept churning and wanted to get in. That’s we tell these guys. Keep fighting.”
And fight they did.
Chamblee appeared to have the game in hand once again after stopping Decatur on a fourth-and-three from the Chamblee 16-yard-line with just under two minutes remaining.
But Decatur had saved two timeouts and forced another three-and-out with just enough time to pull a miracle.
Felton said the win embodied the Bulldogs’ whole season of having to overcome the odds on their way to the region title.
“These kids fought, man,” he said. “For them to even get to this point, and then to be able to take it … I talk to them about their dedication and their belief in me and our coaches and what we teach them, you know?”
Felton didn’t have any more words. Neither did his players. The fight was finished.
DHS|6|8|6|20|--|40
CHS|10|14|14|0|--|38
First Quarter
DHS—Harrison Hannah 5 run (kick failed)
CHS—Rasaan Morland 37 field goal
CHS—Larry Harris 2 run (Morland kick)
Second Quarter
CHS—Harris 3 run (Morland kick)
DHS—Malachi Miller 66 run (Kenric Lanier pass from Hannah)
CHS—Fabian Walker 2 run (Morland kick)
Third Quarter
CHS—Tristian Sizemore 14 pass from Walker (Morland kick)
DHS—Lanier 29 pass from Hannah (2-point try failed)
CHS—Walker 7 run (Morland kick)
Fourth Quarter
DHS—Hannah 7 run (2-pt try failed)
DHS—Hannah 9 run (Isaac Kone kick)
DHS—Miller 53 pass from Tristian Strickland (Kone kick)
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