DECATUR – The Argyle Eagles (7-2, 3-1) moved into a first-place tie in District 8-3A with Decatur on Friday night with a 47-35 win.

Shootout doesn’t begin to describe the offensive clash between Argyle and Decatur at Eagle Stadium. Despite the evident ease with which his team moved the ball in the first half, Argyle coach Todd Rodgers insisted that racking up over 600 yards of total offense was not his game plan against Decatur.

“After our implosion last week our guys were just real focused in practice,” Rodgers said.  “We just wanted to avoid those little things that shot us in the foot last week.”

Among those little things last week were five turnovers for Argyle. On their way to scoring 30 first-half points Friday, Argyle turned the ball over only twice.

Led by receiver Matt Handler’s 181 yards and two touchdowns, Argyle used their spread offense to keep the Decatur secondary guessing in the first two quarters.

A potent Decatur (6-3, 3-1) offense hung with Argyle in the first half, scoring 27 points of its own.

In the second half, Rodgers unveiled a middle screen pass from quarterback JJ Harp to running back Kyle Frizzell that caught the Decatur defense off-guard. With 5:06 left in the third quarter Harp dropped back from his 36-yard line in a scramble that appeared to be heading for a Decatur sack.

At the last moment he dumped the ball over the oncoming defensive linemen to Frizzell, who scampered 64 yards for a touchdown. Combined with Frizzell’s earlier touchdown in the third, the 64-yard score gave Argyle a lead its defense would not relinquish.

Although they had played suspect football in the first half, Rodgers was proud of the way his defense defended their big second-half lead.

“We made some second-half adjustments and just wanted to give our offense some opportunities,” Rodgers said. “Last week our defense played good enough for us to win. Tonight they just hung there.”

Harp set the tone early on when his first two passes went for 83 yards. He finished the game with no interceptions and 425 yards receiving. Handler finished the game with 201 yards receiving to lead the Eagles, while Frizzell finished with 125 yards rushing.

Argyle takes its high-powered offense to Sanger next Friday for a 7:30 tilt with the Indians.

Argyle 47, Decatur 35

Argyle  17            13            14            3            --            47

Decatur            6            21            8            0            --            35

Scoring summary

First Quarter

A – Ben Parks 21 field goal, 9:43

A – Kyle Frizell 2 run (Parks kick), 7:40

D – Brennon Lemieux 75 pass from Tim Metts (kick failed), 7:20

A – Matt Handler 6 pass from J.J. Harp (Parks kick)

Second Quarter

D – Matt Huddleston 5 run (Jose Lira kick), 11:05

A – Parks 27 field goal, 9:13

D – Huddleston 2 run (Lira kick), 6:25

A – Handler 4 pass from Harp (Parks kick), 4:56

D – Zack Zamzow 6 pass from Metts (Lira kick), 3:59

A – Parks 21 field goal, 2:02

Third Quarter

A – Frizzel 5 run (Parks kick), 8:27

A – Frizzell 64 pass from Harp (Parks kick), 5:06

D – Unger 5 run (Lemieux 3 pass from Metts), 2:02

Fourth Quarter

A – Parks 23 field goal, 7:11

Team Statistics

            A            D

First downs            24            12

Rushing yards            41-199            24-66

Passing yards            425            402

Total yards            624            468

Passes  19-31-0          21-41-2

Fumbles-Lost            5-3            2-1

Punts-Avg            0-0            4-29.5

Penalties-Yards            7-53            6-39

Individual Statistics

Rushing – A: Frizzell 24-125, Harp 13-52, Brady Brown 2-6, Collin Mock 1-0, Brandon Doubek 1-16. D: Justin Unger 3-1, Metts 4-(-16), Huddleston 17-81.

Passing – A: Harp 19-31-425-0. D: Metts 21-41-402-2.

Receiving – A: Brown 4-30, Handler 7-201, McGuffey 4-111, Frizzell 3-88, Garrett Jones 1-(-5) D: Chad Harrison 5-60, Zamzow 3-125, Lemieux 3-95, Unger 7-71, Huddleston 3-51