Shannon Fagan, Sports Editor-Cherokee County Herald
CEDAR BLUFF – Back in spring training for the 2015 high school football season, the Cedar Bluff Tigers committed themselves to a mission.
Now, they’re just one win away from that mission being accomplished.
Junior quarterback Josh Decker accounted for six touchdowns. He rushed for 147 yards on 20 carries and scored five times. He also completed 6-of-8 pass attempts for 64 yards and another score in leading the fourth-ranked Tigers to a 53-40 shootout victory over No. 8 Decatur Heritage in the Class 1A state semifinals on Friday night.
The win secured the second state championship game appearance since 2006 for the Tigers (13-1). They will play for the 1A title on Thursday at the University of Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa against defending champion Maplesville (12-1) at 3 p.m.
Maplesville defeated Linden 50-19 in the other Class 1A state semifinal game on Friday.
“This isn’t a shock to us,” Decker said. “We’ve had our eye on this since the spring started. It’s just a great feeling to be a part of something so much bigger than just yourself and the game of football. It’s just great.” Speaking of great, Tiger freshman tailback Ivory Starr turned in another stellar outing on the ground. He ran for 247 yards on 32 carries and a touchdown.
“It feels great,” said Starr, who has now rushed for 2,493 yards this season. “Playing for a state championship is like the best feeling you could ever have as a young man growing up. “I had a good night because my linemen gave me open holes, and I want to thank Logan (Shinn) and Haylan (Bailey) especially for giving me those open holes.”
Shinn and Bailey were only happy to oblige their young teammate.
“We’ve been saying for the whole year we’ve got the potential to do this, and the young kids have stepped it up and helped us,” Shinn said. “It’s a major achievement. Everyone on our team is a family. We try to stick together. We don’t try to shut each other down. We always pick each other up.”
“We started out in the spring and we told ourselves we could be one of the best teams in the state,” Bailey said. “Why can’t it be us to get there? It’s finally paid off.”
But before the Tigers could plan their trip to Tuscaloosa, they had to fight off a ferocious second-half comeback attempt by the Eagles (12-2). Cedar Bluff had built a 29-14 lead at halftime, but Decatur Heritage didn’t quit. On their first possession of the second half, the Eagles soared 64 yards in eight plays, capped off by junior quarterback Grayson Wakefield’s 19-yard touchdown toss to sophomore receiver Jeffrey Hunter. The 2-point try failed, but the Eagles had cut the Tiger lead to 29-20.
After forcing Cedar Bluff to punt, the Eagles struck again on Wakefield’s 6-yard touchdown run. Wakefield called his own number on the 2-point try, trimming Cedar Bluff’s advantage to a single point at 29-28 with 5:41 left in the third quarter.
Wakefield finished the game completing 12-of-20 pass attempts for 178 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 107 yards on 21 totes with two more scores.
Momentum had clearly shifted in the Eagles’ favor, but they weren’t done yet. They recovered an onside kick near midfield. Five plays later, Wakefield gave Decatur Heritage its first lead of the game on a 17-yard run. His try for two fell short, but with 4:03 left in the third, Decatur Heritage was in front 34-29.
But facing adversity hasn’t been anything new for the Tigers.
On their ensuing drive, Decker directed an 8-play, 73-yard drive capped by his 7-yard touchdown run to give Cedar Bluff the lead back. He also added the 2-point conversion by connecting with Bailey, giving the Tigers a 37-34 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
Cedar Bluff’s defense forced an Eagle punt, and the offense cashed it in again. This time, Decker guided the Tigers 69 yards in just five plays, capped off by his 4-yard score. Starr ran in the 2-point conversion, stretching Cedar Bluff’s lead to 45-34 with 10:01 remaining in the game.
“That was a huge drive,” Decker said. “That kind of took me back to the Collinsville game (in Week 1). It was a little déjà vu. Our offensive line did a great job. Haylan did a great job blocking, and Ivory ran the ball great. Our defense came up with a huge stop and helped us regain the momentum.”
But the Tiger defense wasn’t satisfied with just momentum back on their side. They bent, but they didn’t break on the Eagles’ next possession. Facing a fourth-and-10 at the Tiger 26, Wakefield was sacked by sophomore lineman Tray McMeekin, turning the ball over on downs at the 7:22 mark of the fourth.
Decker put the game away on his 7-yard score with 4:30 to go. Starr added another 2-point conversion for a 53-34 Tiger lead.
But the Eagles still weren’t backing down.
Backup quarterback Nathan Ladner directed an 8-play, 61-yard drive capped by his 6-yard touchdown toss to Hunter with 2:14 to go. The try for two failed for the final.
“What a season,” Decatur Heritage head coach Steve Meek said. “Nobody gave us a chance of going this far. I’m awfully proud of my guys.”
“It’s no shame to lose to these guys. My little guys scraped all night.” Cedar Bluff coach Jonathan McWhorter agreed.
“Hat’s off to Coach Meek and Decatur Heritage,” McWhorter said. “It’s only the sixth year of their program, and they don’t even have a field. There’s much respect from us to them, but this is about our kids. I’m just so proud for them, our coaches, our school and our community. Words can’t really do it justice.
“We knew we had establish a certain level of physicality. We knew we could take a little out of them if we were able to come back and hit them in the mouth. I think we did that a couple of drives in a row. The physical nature of what we want to do just kind of took the will out of them, I think.”