| Decatur High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 1011 Prospect Drive Decatur, Alabama, United States |
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| Information | |
| School type | Public |
| Established | 1950 |
| School district | Decatur City Schools |
| Principal | Mike Ward |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1,093 |
| Color(s) | Red and Black |
| Nickname | Red Raiders |
Decatur High School is a public high school in Decatur, Alabama, United States. It is one of two high schools in the Decatur City School District. Decatur High offers technical, academic, and International Baccalaureate programs, as well as dual enrollment with the John C. Calhoun Community College System.
Decatur High, along with southwestern Decatur's Austin High School, were the first International Baccalaureate schools in Alabama north of Birmingham, Alabama. [1]
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Decatur High's football and soccer programs play at the 9,000 seat Ogle Stadium at the southern end of the campus. The stadium is named for a former Decatur High coach, "Shorty" Ogle. The high school's sports teams often use the field as a practice field.
Decatur has produced many players that went on to play in the Collegiate and Professional leagues. Some of these include Bobby Freeman, Moose Malinowski, Benny Perrin, Tucker Dodd, Rolando McClain, Jerraud Powers. Bobby Joe McPoolihan, Tom Calin, Don "Lard" Whitmire, and several professisonal baseball players. .
Decatur High School has had one boy's state championship under coach Earl Morris and five girl's state championships under coach Mike Smith. The 1948 basketball teach was the first Decatur team to go to the state tournament, lead by center Aubre "Dunk the Skunk" Free and Carles "Half Court" Woodruff, but did not win the county tournament, being beaten for the third time that season by Union Hill with the Morris brothers.
The Decatur High School girl's soccer team defeated Briarwood Christian in the class 5A Alabama State Championship game on May 10, 2008. The game was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, and after two 5-minute overtime periods the game remained 2-2. Offensive player Sally Adams took the position of goal keeper, knocking down the Lady Lion's final shot, to win the state championship. Adams was named the State MVP. This was Decatur's first soccer state championship.
The Cross Town Rivalry
Nothing in the central Tennessee Valley matches the annual "Decatur - Austin" game on a late season Friday in November (this game will now be played the first game of the season). Nearly 11,000 fans pack into Ogle Stadium to watch one of the most heated rivalries in Alabama high school football. The series dates back to 1965 when Decatur defeated Austin in the first meeting 27-7. This marked the beginning of a rivalry that fans schedule and plan events around. The 2010 game was a great game for DHS who came out the victor, 50-21.
Decatur high leads the series 33-14.
The Cross River Rivalry
This is Decatur High's oldest rivalry, dating back to before the creation of Austin High. This rivalry is one of the most intense among North Alabama high schools. This is because in the years that the two high schools began playing each other, they were the largest in North Alabama, as the city of Huntsville, Alabama, was still near the bottom when compared to the cities of Decatur, Florence, and Athens. Up until 1965 no other game came close to comparing in the minds of the Decatur fans. This rivalry was soon eclipsed in the mid 1970s by the Decatur - Austin game. As the area grew larger and soon left the city of Athens in its wake, the cross-town rivalry soon took the top spot.
When Decatur High dropped in the AHSAA classifications to 5A in the 2006 and 2007 seasons, this rivalry took on a new meaning. The change brought the intensity that the game had lost in years past. Both schools were in the same region, and fought for the same title each year, in one of the most competitive regions in 5A AHSAA football. However, due to new realignments, Decatur resumed class 6A play in the 2008 season.
The In-County Rivalry
This is also an old rivalry for Decatur High. The annual game, that both schools now play in regional play, inspires the yearly Hartselle Hick Day at Decatur. Students dress up as farmers in plaid and overalls, and dance to the tune of Cotton Eyed Joe during the pep rally.
This is Decatur High's biggest rivalry. The two high schools compete against each other twice annually at the 3,000-seat Carlton Kelly Gymnasium at Calhoun Community College's Main Campus in Decatur, Limestone County. The athletic rivalry with Austin surrounds all kinds of sporting events from football to marching band. But, as soon as football season ends, basketball is king, and the competition on the court begins.
The Decatur High School's Chorus and Concert Bands have consistently received superior ratings in both District and State festivals.
Decatur High has the longest string of District Festival Superior Ratings in Alabama, dating back to the festival's formation in 1947, never receiving anything less than a superior rating.
Decatur High also continues to lead in total number of Alabama Bandmasters State Festival Superior Ratings at 58, more than any other high school in state history.[2]
The Decatur Red Raider Marching Band won the Tennessee Valley Invitational at Muscle Shoals High School in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 2006. Since then, the band has won its class twice at the Vanderbilt Marching Invitational. During their undefeated 2010 season, the Red Raider Marching Band became the first ever band from the state of Alabama to win a class at the prestigious Contest of Champions in Murfreesboro, Tn. The Contest of Champions is the oldest marching contest in America with 49 straight years of competition. This is the most important award that the band has earned since the new band director, Robbie Stout, took control of the band in 2004.
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