For the second year in a row, Athens (2-7, 2-3 Tri-Valley Conference-Ohio) will enter its final game of the season with the challenge of ruining Nelsonville-York’s (8-1, 5-0 TVC-Ohio) perfect conference record.
After an abominable start to the season at 0-6, Athens has a chance to finish the season 3-3 in conference, which would equal its conference record from last season. Beating Nelsonville-York is not going to be easy for Athens, but coming off back-to-back dominating wins, the team has all the momentum it needs to pull off an upset.
The game between Athens and Nelsonville-York has been dubbed “The Battle for the Doc Kroner Trophy.” The name derives from the historic rivalry between the two teams; ever since 1983 the winner of the game is awarded the Doc Kroner trophy. Since 2008, this rivalry game has always taken place in week 10 of the high school football season. Kroner, the namesake of the trophy, was a famous team doctor who used to work on the Athens staff and was an avid member of the Athens community.
Game Information:
Opponent: Nelsonville-York
Venue: Dave Boston Field
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
News and Notes:
Last year when Athens took on Nelsonville-York, it was a rough 41-6 loss for the Bulldogs.
The last time that Athens was able to beat Nelsonville-York was in the 2018 season, when it won 49-14.
Nelsonville has not lost a conference game in the TVC-Ohio since the 2020 season.
In Athens' second consecutive win last week, senior Luke Brandes had his biggest game of the year, putting up four touchdowns and 112 rushing yards in total.
