Athens doubled the number of points scored against Nelsonville-York by the rest of the Tri-Valley Conference Ohio combined.
The problem is 24 points also happened to be the second lowest scoring output of the season for Athens.
The Bulldogs experienced the power of the Buckeye defense firsthand in their 41-24 loss. Their only two offensive touchdowns came too late, and they only drove into the red zone twice through three quarters.
The Bulldogs averaged just 2.6 yards per carry and finished with 67 yards. The team that averaged 157 rushing yards per game entering week 10 was unrecognizable.
“They were very good up front, and we knew coming in their linebackers were good players,” offensive coordinator Nathan White said. “We struggled to block them a little bit, which is something that we knew was a possibility. I give them credit. They played very well defensively.”
The passing game was the better half of a mediocre offensive performance by usual Bulldog standards, but a scattershot and beat up Brendan Sano missed a bevy of throws he had made look routine throughout the season — partially due to the consistent Buckeye pass rush.
Andy Kostival playing limited snaps because of an ankle injury and Treyce Albin catching strep throat didn’t help, but for the first time all season, the Bulldogs quarterback looked outmatched.
“(The hits and playing both ways) would have to affect him,” coach Ryan Adams said. “A kid can only do so much. He gave everything he had tonight, and not too many guys can play at that high a level on both sides of the ball.”
The defense started out ready for a low scoring physical battle. However, the offense’s inability to sustain long drives, coupled with a relentless, grueling attack on the ground from the Buckeyes, was too much for the unit to overcome.
The longer the clock ticked, the easier it appeared to be for Nelsonville-York.
“Needless to say, I think they wore us down eventually,” coach Ryan Adams said.
It took a while for Athens to hit its stride in 2016, but it was a spectacular show when it did.
This season’s Bulldogs lit up the scoreboard almost every Friday night and might have made the playoffs, despite Friday’s loss, were it not for an injury-riddled loss to Canal Winchester and an uncharacteristic slip up to Logan.
As the finality of the season set in and the tears began flowing, however, the peak the Bulldogs had reached earlier in the season became a memory of disappointment
“There wasn’t anything I was gonna be able to tell them that was going to make them feel any better at this point and time,” Adams said.
