Football: Athens’ outstanding defensive performance leads to 41-0 win over Wellston

On home soil, Athens defeated Wellston with a resounding 41-0 victory. It wasn’t a problem for the home team to score, but their defense took them to an even higher level of play compared to their opponents.

“We’ve had some games this year where people only talk about our offense, but our defense was outstanding,” Athens coach Nathan White said. “Over the last few weeks, our kids have excelled even more defensively and I’m so proud of them.”

In the first quarter of the contest, Wellston took up most of the time on the game clock. There were two instances where scoring or first down opportunities were negated by the defensive efforts of seniors Leo Martin and Devon Barnes.

The Bulldogs would take the lead, and with less than two minutes to play in the first quarter, they finally got on the scoreboard with an 82-yard rushing touchdown from junior wide receiver Anthony Sutton. The PAT was no good and the first quarter ended with a score of 6-0 Bulldogs.

In the second quarter, Athens decided it was time to add four more touchdowns. The first came from senior running back Alex Pero with 11 minutes left. Junior kicker Griffin Porter corrected himself and made a successful PAT to increase the Bulldogs’ score to 13-0.

Hart prevented the Rockets from gaining a first down with two consecutive tackles on the ball. The Bulldogs regained possession and, after facing a stifling Rockets defense, found light at the end of the tunnel with a 35-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Daniel Heightland to senior wide receiver Kaiden Bycofski.

Another successful PAT from Porter would bring the Bulldogs to 20-0. Of course, the Bulldogs’ offense was huge, but so was their defense. After Athens’ kick, Wellston fumbled the ball and it was quickly recovered by junior tight end Jaxon Moore.

The Bulldogs would take the lead again, but the Rockets proved they could also stop a team from gaining momentum. However, after Wellston gained possession of the ball, a pass from senior quarterback Johnny Scott ended up being an interception by Bycofski.

Pero would score the third touchdown of the quarter with a 23-yard run into the end zone. With a good PAT the score would be 27-0 Bulldogs. After a timeout with possession, Wellston committed another fumble, which senior tight end Brady Wharton recovered.

Heightland passed to an open Martin for the fourth and final touchdown of the first half, increasing the score to 34-0 after Porter’s lucky PAT.

Despite the great offense and the players’ constant attacks on the ball on defense, the number of penalties the Bulldogs received for the game was particularly notable compared to previous games of the season.

“We have to go back and look at the tape,” White said. “This is without a doubt the game where we had the most penalties this year and it gave us a loss on certain plays. This is something we need to clean up and we are looking at the tape to resolve the issue.”

The Bulldogs’ final touchdown of the night came in the form of a pass from Heightland to Hart in the end zone, making the score 41-0. To cap off the third quarter, Wharton had another interception.

In the fourth quarter, White allowed the freshmen to get some playing time.

To do well in the postseason, the Bulldogs must not have as many penalties as they did in this game; However, their defense gave them victory and rescue from some difficult situations. Next week they host the River Valley Raiders.

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