Situation ends contest early
CONWAY — “We have a situation brewing in our community and, for your safety, this contest is canceled,” said a voice coming from the press box at Eagle Stadium in Conway Friday night as the Decatur Bulldogs faced Conway Christian Eagles in a conference contest.
At the 8:01 mark in the third quarter, with the Eagles holding a 39-0 lead over the Bulldogs, the voice of a school official interrupted the play-by-play commentary.
“We have an active shooter on the loose and we need everybody to exit the stadium as quickly as possible and remain calm,” the voice explained.
So coaches, trainers, players and fans on the Decatur side of the field gathered the team’s equipment and crossed the football field to the locker room located behind the home bleachers. Within 10 minutes after the initial announcement, the Bulldogs bus was loaded and ready to depart. Just one thing blocked the Decatur team from leaving for home, traffic.
Officers from the Conway Police Department and Faulkner County Sheriff’s Deputies worked diligently to get the crowd on its way safely and quickly.
Then out of tragedy came a simple act of kindness that can only be described as miraculous.
From the start of the day, coaches and school officials greeted the Decatur Bulldogs with open arms, helping the coaches and team managers transport equipment from the bus parking to the visitor’s side of the field and providing the Bulldogs with an ice chest full of soft drinks.
Conway Christian was also celebrating homecoming and had just crowned a new queen. So it was a very special night for the Eagles and one that the Bulldogs celebrated just two weeks prior to the Friday night contest.
From the opening kickoff, the Eagles controlled the contest, scoring the first touchdown on its second play with less than a minute into the first quarter. The conversion attempt, however, failed and the Eagles were on the scoreboard leading 6-0.
For the remaining 23 minutes of the first half, Conway Christian racked up several more touchdowns, conversions and a field goal to lead the Bulldogs 39-0 at the halftime break.
With a running clock in the second half, the Bulldogs began to move the ball downfield and were within the Eagles’ 20-yard line with just four minutes off of the third-quarter clock when the fateful announcement came. It was at this point that the competition on the football field became an act of kindness and compassion.
School officials and law enforcement took extra steps to ensure the safety of visitors. With no more competitors, the Eagle coaching staff, which was planning on feeding the Bulldogs after the game, gathered up several boxes of snacks, a case of Gatorade and a $250 gift certificate to be used on Decatur’s next away contest.
Two foes on the gridiron suddenly became fast friends, all due to an unfortunate act of violence that had a city in lockdown mode for several hours.
The Bulldogs had a long ride home Friday night, made even longer by a huge traffic jam caused by the apprehension of the shooter along I-40 in northeastern Conway. As it happened, the Bulldogs passed right by the site at which law enforcement agencies from Arkansas State Police, Conway, a SWAT team and the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office had gathered.
The team arrived safely back in Decatur around 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning, having weathered the storm and emerged victorious not on the gridiron but in the hearts and minds of the people from Conway Christian. Conway Christian is to be commended for showing there is still a lot of good left in this nation.
And, while the team was between Conway and Russellville, Decatur coach Jake Denzer received a text message from his counterpart at Conway Christian. In that message, the Eagle coach praised the Bulldog team for its courage and wished the team much success in its remaining season. The message continued by praising one individual player for his willingness to help not only his own teammates but those of the Eagles. That player was Yeferson Cardona, who helps Denzer with the junior high Bulldogs, as well as being one of the Bulldog varsity team’s leaders.