At the beginning of the season, Athens and Nelsonville-York both knew tonight’s game would be important. But perhaps neither school knew that two perfect seasons would be on the line.
“I would tout this as one of the top games ever to be played in our area, so there’s a lot riding on it and a lot of pride in this football game,” Nelsonville-York coach Dave Boston said.
Besides the Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division crown that is up for grabs, the Buckeyes and Bulldogs will play for a perfect season, something former Nelsonville-York coach Dave Boston Sr. accomplished that has eluded his son.
“It would be my first 10-0 season, so certainly it’s a huge game for me,” Boston Jr. said. “These kids have delivered on every thing that I have personally asked for, and hopefully they’ll get that done Friday night. Our goal is 10-0, and that’s our goal every year.”
Nelsonville-York has won the TVC-Ohio title the last three years and seven of the last eight years. But there is more at stake than just a conference crown.
“It’d be a great feeling not only for our coaches but for our community and our team,” said Buckeyes running back Dustin Young. “Our seniors, we’ve been together since second grade and we’re a real tight-knit group and we don’t like to lose.”
Nelsonville-York is coming off a dominating shutout victory against another rival, Alexander, while the Bulldogs beat conference foe Wellston 36-7 last week.
Nelsonville-York has dominated the TVC recently, but Athens has not been so successful.
The Bulldogs have not earned a spot in the state playoffs since 1990. Even with a loss tonight, though, the team already has earned the right to continue its season.
“It’s certainly huge when you look at a playoff situation, and it has been so long since we’ve been there,” Athens coach Ryan Adams said. “To us, it’s really the icing on the cake.”
Nelsonville-York has not helped Athens’ cause in getting past its playoff drought, and the Bulldogs would like nothing better than to enter the playoffs with the momentum that a win would give them.
“What means more to us than anything else is just to knock off the Buckeyes and try to get this monkey off our back that we’ve been battling for the past three years,” Adams said.
Athens won nine games only two years ago, but its weak schedule kept the team from a playoff berth.
The sting that resulted from that non-postseason year still sticks with the team, resulting in Adams promising the team that a weak schedule would never again keep it from postseason play.
“I assured everybody after that season that if we were ever to go 9-1 again we would make the playoffs, and we have gotten ourselves into that position this year,” Adams said.
“We feel pretty good about how we have managed our schedule over the past couple of years to be in this position.”
The only advantage in what is slated to be a tightly contested game could be its location. The Bulldogs have not lost at the brand new Basil Rutter Field.
Whatever the case, Southeast Ohio will be preparing for what is a historic matchup.
“You’re looking at almost two mirror images of each other,” Adams said. “It’s going to be an interesting scenario and a great game of football in Athens County.”
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