MARK EDWARDS

Every play counted in thriller

Decatur made history Friday night, but who wants to talk about that?

The Red Raiders’ 45-42 triple-overtime win over Benjamin Russell gave us too many thrilling, breath-taking, heart-stopping moments to count.

For only the second time since 1992, Decatur advanced to the state football quarterfinals. The Red Raiders also did it in 2002. In all those other playoff trips since 1992, Decatur usually made it to the second round before running into some Birmingham high school doing its best imitation of the New England Patriots.

But the way Friday’s second-round game went, there’s too much to say and too many highlights to cover. We’ll talk about this Decatur team’s place in history at another time.

For now, let’s talk about a classic win by the Red Raiders over an exceptionally good Benjamin Russell team.

The Ogle Stadium crowd cheered like they were watching something special, too.

Even Decatur head coach Jere Adcock talked afterward about how much the crowd added to the night.

During the three overtimes, whenever the action shifted to one end of the field or the other, the students stampeded to that side as well.

So many plays mattered in this one, but I want to list a few that stood out to me. Decatur couldn’t have won without these plays: