Decatur rebounds from Week 1 loss with explosive shutout against Alvarado
Decatur quarterback Preston Escobar accounted for four touchdowns and 313 total yards as the Eagles trounced Alvarado 47-0 in a non-district game Friday night at Eagle Stadium.
Decatur (1-1) bounced back from a season-opening thumping at the hands of Argyle, the No. 2 ranked team in Class 4A Division 1.
And while the Eagles lost by 47 last week (56-9), they won by the same margin this time around.
“For one, we weren’t playing Argyle,” chuckled Decatur coach Mike Fuller when asked about the difference a week makes. “The biggest difference was that.
“Last week we had five sophomores and a freshman who played a lot and plenty of juniors and seniors who were making their first varsity starts. It was baptism by fire.”
Fuller added that although Escobar, a sophomore, started off well against Argyle that the game got a little fast for him as it went on.
Not against Alvarado.
Escobar tossed three scoring passes with two coming in the first half from 17 and 36 yards to David Juarez that were sandwiched around a 39-yard scoring run by Kamerin Ferguson.
The Eagles led 19-0 at the break.
Escobar added a 29-yard scoring toss to Hunter Smith early in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 40-0.
Escobar was very efficient through the air, hitting 12 of 16 passes for 151 yards. His 3-yard TD run late in the third quarter helped cap a 162-yard effort rushing on 13 attempts.
“I was very proud of him,” said Fuller. “His second start and he does that.”
Alvarado (0-2), who also lost big in Week 1 (50-14 to Graham, No. 6 in 4A D2), never could get in a rhythm on offense behind its power running game featuring William Labermeier.
Labermeier carried 24 times for 87 yards and the Indians countered him with an 88-yard receiving performance by Ty Ford, but every time Alvarado looked to be moving the ball, it would make a mistake.
Decatur picked off three Alvarado passes, two deep in Eagle territory, and pounced on one Indian fumble to thwart drives.
Caden Thomas picked off one pass at the Decatur 20 and Karter Houchin grabbed another at the Eagles’ 18.
Juarez finished with four receptions for 70 yards for the Eagles. Decatur had 471 yards of offense while Alvarado tallied 292.
“None of these first five games are going to do anything towards making the playoffs or helping us with a run,” said Fuller of his tough, non-district schedule. “But we learn from each of them.”
Decatur takes on Midlothian Heritage in a Week 3 matchup on Sept. 11. Alvarado plays Kilgore.