Federal Way flirted with disaster against Decatur before righting its ship in time for a 49-33 victory.

The Eagles improved to 5-0 in South Puget Sound League North Division play and to 6-1 overall.

"A win is a win, but we didn't play our best game," said Federal Way head coach John Meagher.

Meagher credited first year Decatur coach Leon Hatch for making the game harder to win than expected for the Eagles.

"Leon Hatch had a good plan and he stuck to it," said Meagher. "He was my coordinator at one time. They played a good game, so hats off to them."

Most of the battle was fought on the ground.

Andre Barrington of Federal Way gained 300 yards in 20 carries and tacked on two pass receptions including one catch for a touchdown.

Chase King was the main weapon for the Gators. He carried the ball a whopping 41 times for a total of 233 yards.

King and the Gators jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead to really make the Eagles worry.

King punched the first through the middle for a 1-yard touchdown with 8:25 left in the first quarter, but a bad snap and a pass interception foiled the conversion attempt.

King scored an 8-yard touchdown at 3:40 to go in the quarter, but the conversion failed again and left the margin at 12-0.

The Eagles used two touchdowns and two successful conversion kicks by Kelyn Rowe to pass the Gators at 14-12.

Barrington bolted for a 58-yard score at 3:23 to go in the quarter and Justin Amundsen struck on a 5-yard run with only 35 seconds to go until halftime.

King answered for Decatur at 9:40 to play in the third quarter with a 60-yard touchdown run. Jaycob Waddle kicked the PAT for a 19-14 lead.

Barrington turned around to answer right back, this time on a 32-yard run down the left sideline. Rowe's kick put the Eagles out front again at 21-19 with 8:00 to go in the third quarter.

Coty Vaughn scored for the Gators at nine seconds to play in the quarter, punching in a 1-yard run. Quarterback Cameron Schilling hit King at the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion and a 27-21 Decatur lead.

But that was very short lived.

Barrington wound his way down the right sideline for a 35-yard touchdown as the clock wound down to zero. Rowe was successful on the kick and Federal Way was up once again, 28-27.

King scored an 89-yard touchdown on the ensuing kickoff but a pass fell incomplete to leave Decatur's lead at 33-28.

Barrington scored another touchdown at 10:06 to go on a 40-yard run and Justin Southern ran for a two-point conversion and a 36-33 lead for the Eagles.

Southern scored a 1-yard touchdown at 2:26 remaining to make it 42-33 to give the Eagles some breathing room.

Barrington capped off the win by punching his way through for an 8-yard score. Rowes kick brought the final score to 49-33.