Athens got outscored 28-7 in the first half of its loss to River Valley on Friday night.
During Athens four game winning streak, the Bulldogs were fast, physical and ready to play from the opening snap.
That trend changed on Friday night, as Athens was unable to get going in a 35-21 loss to River Valley on Friday night.
During the Bulldogs last four outings, they outscored opponents 55-16 in the first quarter and 111-35 through the first half of that span. Friday, however, the Bulldog dug themselves into a 21-0 first quarter hole that they could not recover from.
Athens coach Ryan Adams took notice to the Bulldogs uncharacteristic first half.
“(Athens) came out extraordinarily flat tonight and that’s on me to try getting this team ready to play,” Adams said. “We ran into a quality football team that played inspired. (River Valley) played inspired and we played flat and (the loss) is your end result.”
Starting the game with a three and out, the Bulldogs defense — which has been stout in the last four weeks — allowed the Raiders to drive 77 yards in less than two minutes to grab an early lead.
After another three and out, and a Heath Wiseman fumble deep in their own territory, the Bulldogs made it easy for the Vikings to take the 21-point lead early in the first frame.
The slow start of Athens was in large part to a lack of offensive production from star running back, Zacciah Saltzman.
Holding him to a mere 4.4 yards per carry, the Raiders bottled Saltzman up, holding him under 50 yards rushing in the first half. Saltzman finished with 27 attempts for 119 yards and two touchdowns, a "bad" night compared to his last few games.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="eb941db0-75e6-11e5-9464-335a248e7400"}}
Defensively, the Bulldogs gave up touchdowns on their first three drives. The River Valley passing attack used double moves and deep passes to advance down the field quickly, not having an answer from Athens. Leading the charge for River Valley's offense were running back Mark Wray and wide receiver Kirk Morrow, who gave Athens' defense fits throughout the night.
The loss knocked the Bulldogs to 3-2 in the Tri Valley Conference and 5-4 overall. Athens will close its 2015 campaign with a home game Friday night against Nelsonville-York.
@spencerholbrook
Sh690914@ohio.edu
