Nelsonville-York had been staring at the 3-foot high Doc Kroner Trophy placed just behind its sideline for the entire game. As soon as the clock ran out in the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes snatched the beloved trophy and took it to the middle of the field in celebration.
They were celebrating their huge 36-6 win over rival Athens on Friday night at Boston Field.
The Buckeyes beat the Bulldogs for the fourth time in five years with an astounding defensive performance and one of the best games the offense has played this season.
“Our defense is clicking,” head coach Rusty Richards said. “Even down at Wellston, we gave up 12 points to a really good Wellston team and rebounded back from that Trimble loss. Ever since then, they’ve been playing lights out.”
Since Nelsonville-York lost its first two games of the season, the defense has only allowed 43 points and has forced a safety in the last two games.
The defense gained a huge help when Athens quarterback Joey Moore hurt his left shoulder midway through the second quarter.
“Joey Moore’s a senior, and any time a senior goes down, you hate to see that. He’s a heck of a football player,” Richards said. “Even when he was in, I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage. We had him moving. He wasn’t real accurate.”
Moore threw an interception to sophomore cornerback Dakota Inman on his third throw of the game. The Buckeyes took advantage and scored a few plays later. They scored both of their touchdowns in the first half off turnovers, with senior Ethan Gail intercepting Athens backup Landon Wheatley on his second pass of the game.
On the other side of the ball, junior quarterback Drew Carter had his best game of the season on 10-of-19 passing with 230 yards and two touchdowns. Carter also ran in a touchdown.
Richards has been encouraged by the development of his quarterback throughout this season.
“He’s getting better every week,” Richards said. “We started off a little rocky in the first couple of weeks, but this kid never played quarterback until freshman year halfway through the JV season.”
Carter didn’t even play much JV quarterback since he was a varsity player last season. Richards said it might be just his eighth or ninth game starting at quarterback.
The Buckeyes got senior Christian Wiseman back from a foot injury Friday, and he anchored the offensive line despite still being a bit hobbled from his foot injury.
They will look to get him and others healthier as they go into a bye week before the playoffs. The bye will also serve as a chance to remind the players of the basics.
“We need Christian, and we’ve got some other bumps and bruises,“ Richards said. “I think we got out of here tonight pretty healthy. We had the opportunity to pick up another game, but we’re not going to do that. We’re going to take this bye week and hone up on some basics and some regular stuff we did in the preseason.”
Nelsonville-York will host the winner of Symmes Valley and Southern on Oct. 17 as it looks to extend its four-game winning streak to five.
