Rattlers bite Bulldogs in homecoming game

DECATUR — The area around Bulldog Stadium and PetersonOwens Fieldhouse was brimming with activity when the Magazine Rattler football team arrived in Decatur for a showdown with the hometown favorite Decatur Bulldogs. After all, Friday night was a special time for the community. It was the 2022 Decatur Bulldog homecoming.

At the conclusion of the homecoming coronation ceremony in which Landon Watson was named king and Abby Davis was crowned queen, both teams took to the field for the start of the conference contest between the Bulldogs and Rattlers.

It became clear who was in control of the game on the opening kickoff when the Rattler kicker made a short 15-yard kick that a Bulldog player tried to pick up but fumbled, with the ball recovered by Magazine. Three plays later, the Rattlers found the end zone for the first touchdown of the contest. The extra point kick was no good and Magazine led, 6-0.

The Rattlers continued to rack up the points in the first quarter and by the 4:51 mark and three additional touchdowns, two points after, and a conversion, the Rattlers led the Bulldogs, 28-0.

The final touchdown of the night came in the second quarter when Magazine found the end zone for an additional six. The point after was good, giving the Rattlers a 35-0 lead going into the break.

While the Bulldogs retreated

to the dressing room, the Decatur High School marching band played host to its counterparts, the Magazine Rattler marching band. Each band performed short sets of familiar music while showing off its precision formation moves. This was the first time that another marching band performed during a halftime show at Bulldog Stadium in more than four years.

When the music faded away into the darkness, it was time to finish the homecoming football contest. Because Magazine was so far ahead of the Bulldogs, the Arkansas Activities Association’s mercy rule was put into play. For the remainder of the contest, the clock continued to run.

The Bulldogs continued their fight throughout the remaining 24 minutes, crossing into Rattler territory several times and coming within 15 yards of the goal line. But a series of penalties drove the ball back, and Decatur was never able to get any closer.

The Magazine Rattlers defeated the Decatur Bulldogs, 35-0, for the conference win.

The Decatur Bulldogs go on the road Sept. 30 for another conference contest, this time against the Mountainburg Dragons.

Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS After a fumble, Bulldog running back Landon Watson (4) dives to recover the ball during the first quarter of the Decatur-Magazine homecoming football game in Decatur Friday night. Watson recovered the loose ball, allowing the Bulldogs to continue their march downfield.

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS Bulldog Robert Thang blocks out a Rattler defender behind him as he prepares to take out the defender in front, allowing running back Kenneth Barrios a little running room during the first quarter of the DecaturMagazine homecoming football contest in Decatur Friday night.