Athens football wins its first game of the 2015 season behind quarterback Brendan Sano's performance.
WARREN, Ohio — The Bulldogs could be one of most polarizing football teams in the state of Ohio.
Athens High School faced off against the Warren High School in a matchup of winless teams Friday night and after losing 55-0 the week prior, Athens dominated Warren, 53-0, behind junior quarterback Brendan Sano and senior running back Zacciah Saltzman.
Athens coach Ryan Adams was reached for comment after the game but was unavailable.
Sano finished the night 11-15 with four touchdowns and Saltzman picked up 223 rushing yards.
The Bulldogs dominated both sides of the ball, racking up 446 yards of total offense compared to the Warrior's 90 total yards.
Athens had possession for over half the game, with a time of possession at 29:44, which was aided by a running clock in the second half, as its last possession lasted 9:05 minutes long.
Warren's problems began at the first play of scrimmage, as it proceeded to turn possession right over to Athens by a fumble. The Bulldogs opened the scoring five plays later on a one yard touchdown pass from Sano to senior wide receiver Heath Wiseman.
After a short Warrior possession, the Bulldogs took the ball back over at their 48-yard line. On the first play of the Bulldog possession, Saltzman rumbled all the way to the end zone, breaking multiple tackles and tiptoeing down the sideline.
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After the Warriors and Bulldogs traded turnovers and the Warriors turned it over on downs, Sano capped a five-play 76-yard touchdown drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to senior wide out Trey Keiffer. From there, Athens never looked back.
The Bulldogs scored on their next four drives. Sano threw two more touchdown passes, another to Wiseman and one to senior Cody Bennett. Saltzman scored another, this time from nine yards out and senior Cortez Gainey added on a touchdown from a one-yard run. Athens also scored on its final possession on a four-yard run by sophomore running back Tyler Roback.
Fumbles plagued the Warriors early and often, as they coughed it up five times. Athens recovered three of them. The Warriors also could not convert on third down going 0-7 on the night, picking up only five first downs on the night, two by Bulldog penalties.
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