For the first time all season, Athens scored three touchdowns in a game. Unfortunately, it was still unable to find its first win of the season, falling 47-22 on the road to Meigs.
Its been a frustrating season for the Bulldogs as they fall to 0-7 and lose their third conference game of the year. Sitting dead last in the Tri-Valley Ohio Conference, the Bulldogs have only three more games to avoid a dreaded winless season.
The Athens defense was once again completely overpowered by the run game. Meigs had two rushers with over 100 yards, junior Conlee Burnem had a great night, rushing for 206 yards and three touchdowns. Junior quarterback Griffin Cleland also had his way in the run game with three touchdowns of his own along with 132 yards on the ground.
Another big factor in this game was Meigs' ability to create turnovers on defense. After throwing zero interceptions last week, sophomore Braeden Young threw three to the Meigs defense Friday.
Despite the final score appearing to be a blowout, the Bulldogs had their chances to win this game. With just 3:52 to go in the third quarter the Bulldogs had scored a touchdown and brought the game to 22-27.
Despite the interceptions, Young had another impressive performance as he was responsible for all three of the team's touchdowns. The first-year quarterback had two rushing touchdowns as well as a passing touchdown to sophomore Alex Pero. Young led the team with 224 passing yards along with 79 yards rushing.
The turning point in this game was two big-play touchdowns by the Marauders in the second half that took away whatever momentum the Bulldogs might have had. One came at the end of the third quarter when Burnem caught a 42-yard pass and found the end zone. The real nail in the coffin for the Bulldogs came in the 4th quarter and it was Burnem again, rushing for 73 yards on the first play of the drive to put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs.
Next week Athens will be back at home inside Joe Burrow Stadium to begin a stretch of three conference games to end the season. Next weeks opponent will be Wellston (0-7, 0-2 TVC-Ohio.)
