DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — Cross-town rivals, Austin and Decatur, are gearing up for the 2025 season.
Austin won the Class 7 Region 4 championship in 2024 and posted a 9-2 record. The Black Bears started 9-0, but dropped their final two games of the season.
Coach Jeremy Perkins returns for his 16th season in charge. Perkins said the success of this year’s group will hinge on their response to adversity.
“Very rarely are you going to see a team that leads a game from start to finish, every single week, you are going to fall behind at some point, other teams are going to score first, you are going to make a mistake,” Perkins said. “How do you respond to that? Do you quit? Do you give up> Do you start fighting each other, or do you pull together, look within, and find ways to overcome those types of things? That’s the unknown commodity, is how we are going to respond to things as they come in the season?”
Austin will host Hartselle to start the season, a rematch of a thrilling double overtime game from last year.
“We learned a lot about ourselves in those four quarters plus two overtimes and what better way to start out,” Perkins said.
Over on Somerville Road, John Ritter returns for year two as the Decatur Red Raiders Head Coach. Decatur went 2-8 in Ritter’s first season, but he said the buy-in from the group this offseason has been strong.
“Really, since November 2 of last year, we’ve worked these guys and they’ve took it all in stride. Very excited about the work we’ve put in, you know, couldn’t ask for a better group of guys,” Ritter said. “They’ve really bought into the culture we are preaching and what we want to hang our hat on.”
Ritter said that despite last year’s struggles, the program has over 80 players who worked out throughout the offseason.
Senior offensive lineman Harris Penley is one of those players. Penely echoed Ritter’s belief that his teammates are more bought into the culture.
“Last year, I would say that there was 20, maybe 20 guys kind of bought in, but I would say 90 plus if not everyone is bought in. It’s really good to see that all the way down from you know I’m a senior all the way down to freshman, everybody’s been bought in and working hard,” Penley said. “I’m really excited for the season.”
Decatur will face a tough schedule, both in-region and out-of-region, meaning a fast start could help them tremendously.
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