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2022 Football Preview C14 n Wednesday, August 24, 2022 Herald-Leader/Westside Eagle Observer DECATUR — With a little over a week left until the first games, the Decatur Bulldogs junior high and varsity teams spent the remaining pre-season practice both on the practice field and in the weight room preparing for the up-and-coming 2022 football season. This season the Bulldogs will transition from eight-man football back into the 2A 11-man confer - ence. Head coach Jake Denzer is excited about the move and feels the Bulldog junior high and varsity pro- grams will benefit from the change to the 2A-Region 1 conference, which includes Bigelow, Conway Christian, Hector, Johnson County Westside, Mountainburg and Mag- azine. "We are bumping up to 11-man this year and we are bring a lot of excitement back to the town of De- catur," said Denzer. "I know that De- catur has a rich tradition, including state runner-up back in '77 (1977)." Denzer has good reasons for wanting the 11-man program back. It will give him the ability to expand the Decatur program by adding one more team. This team will be vital to the future of Bulldog football. "There was a lot of thought that went into making that decision to go back to 11-man and ultimately it is for the kids," Denzer explains. "It creates more opportunities for the kids to play and we also added a sev - enth grade football program. Years from now those kids will have more playing experience than what they were not able to get in eight-man." Some seventh-graders played on last year's Bulldog junior high team because they were physically on the same level as their ninth grade coun - terparts. Still a lot of the seventh-grad- ers are not as Denzer explains. "There is a big difference between a typical seventh grader and a typ- ical ninth grader," said Denzer. "Some kids are afraid of hitting a bigger kid. With the addition of the seventh grade team, the kids instead will be hitting ones in the same size range as they are." One of the biggest problems with the eight-man league was trav - el time. Four years ago when the league was in its infancy, it was not uncommon for Decatur to travel all the way to near the Arkansas-Loui- siana border, a travel time of about seven to eight hours. Leaving very early in the morning and arriving about an hour before game time meant that the players were physi- cally tired before they even started to play. As teams were added to the league's roster, the average travel time for the Bulldogs was down to four-and-a-half hours. Now in the 2A conference, the av - erage travel time for the senior high is down to two-and-a-half hours with the junior high and seventh grade teams down to three hours. Less travel time means that the kids will be more energetic and ready to take on their opponents. This summer, the pre-season practice among the varsity and ju - nior high teams have been spot on thanks to Denzer's commitment to the kids to turn them into the top players that they can be. "As of August 10, the kids have put in nearly 900 hours collectively this summer," Denzer explains. "We are now 900 hours ahead of where we were last year and making the transi- tion to 11-man we need to be ahead. I am very pleased with our turn out this summer. Hopefully we will pick up a few bodies when school starts. To Denzer, all positions in foot- ball are important and his coaching style is to teach the kids to be open to change their position to fits the teams needs. One of the most im- portant position in football is the quarterback and Denzer has one that excels in the job. "One of the kids that put in the most effort is Brandon Monato," said Denzer. "He is a big-body kid, about 6-foot-2 inches and 220 pounds. He is big for a quarterback, but he has a pretty good arm. He can whip the ball out there and force teams to de - fend the entire lime of scrimmage. With the big kid in the back field he is always a threat to pile up the middle but then he has some speed on the out side so he can whip it to one of the receivers or send a guy in motion. If the team isn't honoring our speed we will try to beat them on the outside. If they are widening out then we will try to beat them up the middle. By Mike Eckels Staff Writer n meckels@nwaonline.com Bulldogs ready for transition to 11-man football Decatur Bulldogs Date Opponent Time Aug. 26 LR Episcopal 7 p.m. Sept. 2 at Carlisle 7 p.m. Sept. 9 Yellville-Summit 7 p.m. Sept. 16 at Berryville 7 p.m. Sept. 23 Magazine* 7 p.m. Sept. 30 at Mountainburg* 7 p.m. Oct. 7 at Conway Christian* 7 p.m. Oct. 14 Hector* 7 p.m. Oct. 28 at JC Westside* 7 p.m. Nov. 4 Bigelow* 7 p.m. * 2A-1 Conference game Jake Denzer Mason Potter Mike Eckels/2022 Football Preview Jackson Montano (29) finds an opening in the Mustang line and takes off for the end zone during the Decatur-Midland junior high football game in Decatur on Sept. 24, 2021. Montano returns as a sophomore quarterback to lead the varsity team in 2022. See BULLDOGS on Page C15