Heading into week four of the high school football season, the big question surrounding the Athens Bulldogs is what opponent is going to stop its high-flying offense?
Athens will look to remain undefeated on Friday when it hosts Jackson (2-1), which held the Bulldogs (3-0) to its lowest single-game point total last season, during a game in which they also recorded their smallest margin of victory.
It wasn’t an easy task for Jackson last season, and it won’t be this year. The teams match up fairly even from an experience standpoint, with both teams being composed of mostly sophomores and juniors.
However, Athens’ offense possesses a unique combination of talent that has been far too much to handle for its opponents, as the Bulldogs have outscored their opposition 157-28.
As the offense continues to soar under the leadership of junior quarterback Joe Burrow (46 completions, 687 yards, seven touchdowns) and junior tailback Trae Williams (45 carries, 358 yards, eight touchdowns), the defense has become stingier, after allowing a season-low six points during last week’s 42-6 rout at Warren.
Burrow has many targets through the air, with the most prominent being Zacciah Saltzman (11 catches, 209 yards) and Ryan Luehrman (nine catches, 216 yards, four touchdowns).
But the talk surrounding Athens’ offense is old news to Jackson, which heard similar chatter in the days and weeks leading up to last season’s narrow 21-14 loss to the Bulldogs.
The Ironmen had outscored their opponents 122-18 the first two weeks, before they were blown out on the road at West Jefferson, 42-6 last week and West Jefferson’s offense runs out of the spread formation, similar to Athens.
Jackson runs a balanced offensive attack, led by sophomore quarterback Hunter Sexton, who enters the game with 227 yards passing and another 132 yards rushing.
The Ironmen running back tandem of Derek Rafferty and Jake Crabtree have also combined for 298 yards on the ground and six touchdowns.
Because of scheduling conflicts, it is unclear when the next time these longtime rivals meet will be. Therefore, Friday will be a chance to watch Athens and Jackson take the gridiron one more time for an explosive, midseason contest.
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@_TonyWolfe_
