Seahawks advance to 2A championship after miracle comeback win

BERLIN, Maryland – The champions will defend their crown.

Decatur erased a 20-point third-quarter lead and beat Westlake 27-20 in overtime Friday night in Berlin.

Westlake led 20-0 late in the third quarter with two touchdowns from Devin Cox and one from Caleb Phillips. The Wolverines would win two of three extra points.

With the season on the line, the reigning 2A champions mounted a furious comeback.

The Seahawks completed a 68-yard drive on the ensuing possession. In the final minute of the third quarter, quarterback Johnny Hogbood found Zakhari Baker down the sideline for a 38-yard touchdown to put the home team on the field.

The Wolverines had a golden chance to tie the game when they opened their drive at the Decatur 41-yard line with 8:26 left. Davin Chandler stopped the Westlake back a yard short of the ball, forcing a turnover on downs.

Decatur’s next drive was a five-play march down the field. After 68 yards and 1:04 minutes behind, Nathan Tapley ran the ball in for Decatur’s second score of the night.

With 4:34 left, the Seahawks had the ball again at 74 yards and were able to make up a deficit of six.

Decatur turned to its ground attack and ran the ball on eight of nine plays to get inside the Westlake 10.

Hobgood found Davin Chandler in the flat and the senior pounced for the game-tying score, sending the home crowd into an uproar and sending the game into overtime.

In overtime, Hobgood kept the ball and ran for the score while the defense forced two incompletions to send the Seahawks back to the championship game.

While chatting with head coach Jake Coleman, he had this to say about his team’s performance.

“They went down, they reacted like champions and never let their heads down. They didn’t let the weight of the end of the season and all the expectations weigh them down. They just grinded and I’m not at all surprised by this group. We just have Must Focus on getting better every day and give ourselves a chance.”

Decatur will play third-seeded Huntingtown in the MPSSAA 2A state championship on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 3:30 p.m. at Navy-Marine Crops Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.