On its home turf, Athens defeated Wellston in a blowout 41-0 victory. Scoring was no issue for the home team, but its defense pushed it to an even higher level of play in comparison to its opponent.
“We’ve had some games this year where all people talk about is our offense, but our defense has been outstanding,” Athens coach Nathan White said. “The last couple of weeks our kids have stuck out even more on the defensive side and I’m so proud of them.”
The first quarter of the contest saw Wellston take up most of the time on the game clock. There were two instances where scoring or first-down opportunities were crushed by the defensive efforts of seniors Leo Martin and Devon Barnes.
The Bulldogs would take over, and with less than two minutes to play in the first quarter, they would eventually get on the scoreboard with an 82-yard rushing touchdown from junior wide receiver Anthony Sutton. The PAT was no good, and the first quarter ended with a score of 6–0 Bulldogs.
In the second quarter, Athens decided it was time to add four more touchdowns. The first came from senior running back Alex Pero with eleven minutes to go. Junior kicker Griffin Porter corrected himself and made a successful PAT to tally up the score to 13-0 Bulldogs.
Hart prevented the Rockets from advancing to a first down with two consecutive tackles on the ball. The Bulldogs gained possession, and after facing some smothering defense from the Rockets, they found light at the end of the tunnel with a 35-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Daniel Heightland to senior wide receiver Kaiden Bycofski.
Another successful PAT from Porter would make it 20-0 Bulldogs. Of course, the offense was huge for the Bulldogs, but so was their defense. After the kick by Athens, Wellston fumbled the ball and it was quickly recovered by junior tight end Jaxon Moore.
The Bulldogs would take over again, but the Rockets proved they can also halt a team from getting any momentum. However, after Wellston gained possession of the ball, a pass from its senior quarterback Johnny Scott ended up being an interception by Bycofski.
Pero would get the third touchdown of the quarter with a 23-yard run into the endzone. With a good PAT, the score would be 27-0 Bulldogs. Coming out of a timeout with ball possession, Wellston would yet again commit a fumble that senior tight end Brady Wharton recovered.
Heightland passed to an open Martin for the fourth and final touchdown of the first half, bringing the score to 34-0 after the fortunate PAT from Porter.
Despite the amazing offense and players constantly attacking the ball on defense, one thing that did stand out compared to the previous games in the season was the amount of penalties the Bulldogs had for the game.
“We have to go back and watch the tape,” White said. “This is without a doubt the game we’ve had the highest amount of penalties this year, and it cost us on certain plays. It’s something we need to clean up and we’ll watch the tape and get that stuff fixed.”
The Bulldogs would get their final touchdown of the night in the form of a pass from Heightland to Hart in the endzone to make it 41-0. To cap off the third quarter, Wharton had yet another interception.
The fourth quarter is when White allowed the freshman players to get some playing time.
To do well in the postseason, the Bulldogs can’t have as many penalties as they did this game; however, their defense is what got them the win and out of some tough situations. Next week, they host the River Valley Raiders.
