CHAMBLEE, Ga. — Update: Decatur clinched their first region title since 2004, with a big win over Chamblee by a final of 40-38.
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A path to washing away two region championship droughts is hanging in the balance for two Region 4 (5A) teams on Friday night at North DeKalb Stadium. In a battle of the Bulldogs, it's a winner-take-all scenario between Decatur and Chamblee.
Let's begin with the team chasing their first region title since 1982. It's almost hard to fathom a 40-year region championship dry spell in high school football, with teams' success often waning through periods of both sustained winning and periodically, sustained losing.
That's the case for the Chamblee Bulldogs, who under second-year head coach Bob Swank, have simply dominated their way through the 2022 gauntlet. They've made it look easy at times, outscoring their opponents 274 to 87 on the season, putting up 45 or more points in a game four times so far. The 6-1 Bulldogs are also searching for their first overall playoff birth since 2009.
A large majority of that success can be attributed to quarterback Fabian Walker. The senior dual-threat signal-caller has completed nearly 65% of his passes for 1,081 yards while throwing for 14 touchdowns and just two picks. Meanwhile, Walker's mobility has netted him an extra four scores and 217 yards.
For Decatur, three consecutive winning seasons have netted them three straight trips to the playoffs. Despite that, these Bulldogs are looking to hang a region banner for the first time since 2004. Under head coach William Felton, Decatur hasn't been quite as dominant as their Friday night counterpart.
With just a 4-4 record, the only thing that matters for Decatur is a perfect 3-0 region mark. Their point differential has been a bit misleading so far, with just seven more points scored than allowed. However, the Bulldogs suffered three straight losses in the middle of the season by a combined 67 points. Since then, they have flipped the script to win their first three region games, with a 53-28 win over Tucker, a 23-8 win over Arabia Mountain, and a 35-2 win over Lithonia last week.
Decatur is a pass-first team. Senior QB Harrison Hannah has thrown the ball nearly 200 times this season, racking up 2,044 yards, 17 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He'll look for his favorite target tonight in Kenric Lanier, who has hauled in 44 balls for 705 yards.
The thing we know for sure -- one team will break the drought. Who will it be? Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Be sure to check out #Team11 football show every Friday night at 11:15 for an in-depth breakdown of all of the high school football action in metro Atlanta.
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Check out highlights of Week 10's Game of the Week between LaGrange and Trinity Christian from 11Alive's Reggie Chatman below: