The Athens defense came into Friday’s game tired of being berrated in the film room.
It was ready to prove that the 77 points it’d allowed the past two weeks was a fluke.
“Lots of guys have a lot of pride in (the film room),” quarterback and defensive end Brendan Sano said. “When they hear they’re making mistakes, they really take it to heart."
After allowing a touchdown on the opening drive, Athens didn’t allow another score until there were two minutes left in the game, the last in the 36-14 victory over Wellstone on Friday night.
The Wellstone offense wasn't inept, either. The Rockets drove down the field on Athens multiple times, but the Bulldog defense solidified its hold on the game with stops deep in its own territory.
Early in the third quarter, Athens fumbled on its own 16-yard-line, giving Wellston a chance to cut the lead back down to two scores. The Rockets gained just two yards on four plays, however, and the Bulldogs reclaimed possession almost as quickly as they had lost it.
“Certainly with the number of points we’ve given up the last two weeks, I put the bullseye on (the defense’s) back to perform tonight,” coach Ryan Adams said. “They rose to the challenge.”
On the other side of the ball, Athens didn’t look much different from the past few weeks. Only on offense, that was perfectly fine.
Sano continued to play like one of the best quarterbacks in southeast Ohio, completing 10-of-11 passes for 289 yards and five touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns came to wide receiver Robert Dickelman, which makes five touchdowns for the tandem in the last two weeks.
The Athens offense has been great all year, but lately it's been unstoppable. The team is averaging 42.7 points per game the last three weeks.
“It’s just lots of confidence going into every week,” Sano said. “Knowing that even if our defense doesn’t have a stellar performance, that we can kind of bail them out and score some points.”
With two 6-2 teams left on the schedule, Friday’s performance was necessary for the Bulldogs’ confidence. Both sides of the ball have momentum now, and the Bulldogs are dangerous when they’re rolling in both phases.
“Hopefully we can eat sleep and repeat,” Adams said.
