On the road, Athens defeated Meigs 35-0 to move up to 7-0 in the regular season. The Bulldogs’ offense was a bit spotty, but their defense helped them get out of some tight scenarios.
“It feels good to win a football game but there is plenty of stuff to clean up with our offense,” Bulldogs coach Nathan White said. “But again, it’s hard to win football games and having more points over the other team makes you feel good about it.”
Most of the points scored by the Bulldogs were off turnovers committed by the Marauders. In the first quarter alone, the Bulldogs’ senior defensive back Kaiden Bycofski had not one but two interceptions. The first interception resulted in Athens scoring a touchdown by senior Alex Pero only two minutes into the game to make it 7-0 Bulldogs.
After recovering the kicked ball by Athens, the Marauders would fumble, leading the Bulldogs' defense to pounce on and regain possession. But the Marauders weren't going to let the opposing team score again so easily, as their defense forced a fumble by the Bulldogs’ junior quarterback Daniel Heightland.
The Bulldogs did recover the fumble but eventually were forced to kick after failing to reach a first down. Bycofski would receive his second interception on the night after a bad pass from the Marauders’ quarterback.
Once again the Bulldogs’ offense would be stifled by the Marauders’ excellent defense. The Marauders did inch closer to scoring their first touchdown of the game, but their hopes were soon diminished after great tackles on the ball from Bulldogs’ senior linebacker Seth Hart.
In the second quarter, with a first and goal opportunity, the Bulldogs wasted no time getting back on the scoreboard with Pero on the carry into the endzone. Pero, who was previously absent from the team for the past three games, had three touchdowns in total for the game.
“It’s good to have Alex back, and as a team, we are starting to get healthier again,” White said. “He’s not quite one hundred percent yet, but he’s a kid that has worked incredibly hard to become a good football player and it’s great to see him have that success.”
Struggles for the Bulldogs’ offense continued with Heightland committing another fumble that was quickly repossessed by the home team. But the Marauders wouldn’t go anywhere as senior defensive back Leo Martin had a pick-six and brought the score to 21-0 plus a successful PAT from junior Griffin Porter.
The staggering defense by the Bulldogs didn’t allow the Marauders to gain any momentum, and the opposing team would take over the ball and Hart would recover the ball after junior wide receiver Anthony Sutton fumbled it on the carry into the endzone. Another good PAT made the score 28-0 Bulldogs with 1:09 left to go in the first half.
The Bulldogs kicked and the sloppy handling of the ball by the Marauders led to Athens getting possession yet again. They capitalized off this with Pero getting a rushing touchdown, his final one of the night. The Bulldogs led 35-0 going into halftime.
With a continuous clock, the second half of the game saw little to no action. The football was being traded back and forth between both teams with neither one seeing a glimpse of an opportunity for a touchdown.
Late in the fourth quarter with less than a minute to play, the Marauders’ best chance at scoring was eliminated by the Bulldogs’ brick wall defense.
Despite some issues with their offense, the Bulldogs’ still managed to get the win and not allow the Marauders to score even once. Next week, the Bulldogs return to their home field to face off against the Wellston Golden Rockets.
