DANVILLE — K.J. Riley threw a 61-yard TD pass on the first play from
scrimmage, and added four more first-half TD throws to lead Danville to a
37-0 lead at the intermission en route to a 43-0 win over Athens here
Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the District 4, Class AAA
playoffs.
“We really didn’t have any answers. We wanted to come
in and mix up some coverages but we had two breakdowns in coverage on
their first two touchdowns, ” said Athens coach Jack Young. “When that
happens it puts you on your heels and gives you a little doubt in your
mind, takes away your confidence and it’s all uphill from there.
“We
knew it was important for us to start well and first play of the game
giving up a touchdown on a coverage breakdown, it put us in a bad place
and it was a tough day,” added Yount.
Riley completed 12 of 19
passes for 219 yards — all in the first half, with Carson Persing
hauling in four for 192 yards and two TDs, and Jagger Dressler adding
five catches for 79 yards and one TD.
“It was nothing that we
didn’t see on film. They did the same thing to their previous opponents
that they did to us today and when you don’t put pressure on the
quarterback and contain him, it’s a struggle,” said Young. “That’s a
really good football team and it’s a different time of the year when you
get to the playoffs.”
Riley’s first TD was a 61-yard strike to a
wide-open Carson Persing on a crossing route just 19 seconds into the
game. Athens blocked the PAT kick, but still trailed 6-0.
Athens’
first play from scrimmage had the exact opposite result as sophomore QB
Mason Lister was stripped of the ball while rolling out to pass, and
the Ironmen recovered at the Wildcat 16.
The Athens defense held,
and Riley split the up rights with a 31-yard field to give Danville a
9-0 lead just 77 seconds into the game.
Four of the next five Wildcat possessions ended with a punt, and the other with an interception.
Riley
threw two more TD passes in the second quarter — a 20-yarder to Carson
Persing with 5 minutes remaining, and a 5-yarder to Dressler with 3:49
remaining — to make it 23-0.
Riley added a 5-yard TD pass to
Hayden Winn with 10:30 remaining in the first half, and an 8-yard TD to
Ian Persing just 62 seconds later to give the Ironmen a 37-0 lead.
With the clock running in the second half due to the so-called “mercy rule,” Athens ran 26 offensive plays to Danville’s eight.
The
Ironmen, however, blocked two punts in the third quarter, the second of
which was scooped and returned 10 yards by C.J. Outt with 2:09 left in
the third quarter for the only points of the second half.
Sophomore
Caleb NIchols led Athens with 45 rushing yards on eight carries, while
junior Shayne Reid had 40 yards on eight carries, and sophomore Chris
Bathgate added 24 yards on two carries.
Lister completed 7 of 15
passes for 33 yards, with one interception. Junior Karter Rude led the
Wildcats with four receptions for 32 yards.
Athens ends the season at 5-2, and will not be looking to play another game.
“We
weren’t supposed to be here,” said Young. “A lot of people didn’t think
we’d even play a season this year, never mind playoffs, so for our kids
to get better each week and finish 5-1 and come play a really good
football team, it was a special time for us.
“We didn’t want it
to end like it did today, but I’m super proud of these kids for working
hard and we only have seven seniors, so the future is bright for us,”
added Young.
MONTGOMERY — Sophomore Caleb NIchols got Athens off on the right foot on
the first play from scrimmage, and the Wildcats shook off “little”
mistakes, thanks to big plays in a 35-7 win over Montgomery here Friday
night in NTL football action.
“It was a long bus ride, and we
weren’t sharp early— on either side of the ball,” said Athens coach Jack
Young. “We made some mistakes, but boy, we made some big plays, too.”
Athens’
first little mistake was booting the opening kickoff out-of-bounds.
That, however, overshadowed on Montgomery’s the first play from
scrimmage when Nichols stepped in from of a Logan Almeida pass and
sprinted 35 yards to paydirt. Shayne Reid’s PAT kick made it 7-0.
“Every
time (Montgomery) tried to throw the ball deep down the field,
something bad happened,” said Young. “We got a couple of picks tonight,
which was nice because we haven’t had one in a while.
“And, teams are going to quit throwing to Caleb Nichols’ side because the kid is a player,” he added.
After
an exchange of punts, Reid ripped off a 48-yard TD, then tacked on the
extra point to make it 14-0 midway through the first quarter.
The
Red Raiders responded with their best possession of the night, a
nine-play, 61-yard scoring drive, capped by an 11-yard TD pass from
Almeida to Devon Deem. Gabe McNear’s PAT kick cut the deficit to 14-7
early in the second quarter.
While the Wildcat defense contained
Montgomery’s standout running back Kaide Drick on the scoring drive,
Almeida did the majority of the damage, completing several short passes
and rushing for 23 yards.
“If a team wants to dink-and-dunk us in
the air, we’re going to let them a little bit,” said Young. “That’s
better than getting beat over the top. And, we don’t want a guy to rush
for 200 yards on us.”
The Wildcats held Drick, who was averaging
124 yards per game entering the contest and rushed for 277 yards in a
win over Wyalusing last week, to 76 yards on 16 carries,
“We
just wanted to keep building off the physicality we showed in the second
half against South Williamsport,” said Young. “We were fundamentally
sound defensively.
“If everybody just takes care of their job,
then you’re going to do a pretty good job defensively,” he added. “I
couldn’t be prouder of our defense.”
Young also noted the play of several youngsters.
“We
had some breakdowns defensively,” said Young. “We were missing a couple
kids tonight, and it showed, but I’m super-proud of the young kids that
stepped in and played hard.
“(Sophomore) Matt Machmer for one …
he didn’t come here expecting to start at corner(back), but he’s a heck
of a fundamental player, and that boy can tackle.
“Freshmen Josh
NIttinger and Jason Dunn have been getting on the field a lot, which
makes some of our older players better and fresher as the game goes on,”
added Young. “That’s what I’m really proud of.”
The defenses
ruled the majority of the second quarter, until junior Karter Rude’s
23-yard punt return set up Athens at midfield.
A few plays
later, the Wildcats were in the end zone on a 9-yard TD run by Nichols
to up the lead to 20-7. The key play of the drive was a 23-yard pass
from sophomore QB Mason Lister to fullback Tanner Dildine, who did most
of the work with his legs.
The Wildcats opened the second half
with a time-consuming 14-play possession, but an inopportune
intentional-grounding penalty just inside the Montgomery 20 set them way
behind the chains. They couldn’t recovered and were forced to punt.
Early
in the fourth quarter, Montgomery moved the ball into Athens territory,
but Rude picked off an Almeida pass and returned it to the Red Raider
33.
“Karter Rude told us all week long “i’m gonna get one,’ and
he did,” said Young. “We had a good feeling he would based on what they
do and how we were going to defend it.”
Athens fed Reid on the
ensuing drive, and he accounted for 31 yards, including a 5-yard TD run.
Lister’s pass to senior tight end Ben Pernaselli provided the
two-point conversion to give the Wildcats a 28-7 lead.
“We talked
at halftime and decided throwing the football was not what was going to
win us this football game,” said Young. “I’m an old-school football
coach, when we can run the football, we’re going to run the football.”
Montgomery
clung to a sliver of hope on its next possession, but the Wildcat
defense continued to stymie Drick, and the Red Raiders were forced to
punt.
Reid drove the final nail into the Montgomery coffin on the
punt, a short boot to the Athens sideline. With the Wildcat sideline
yelling “poison, poison, poison,” Reid scooped up the punt and raced to
the Red Raiders’ 8-yard line.
Two plays later, Lister found a
wide-open J.J. Babcock in the end zone for a 5-yard TD pass. Reid’s PAT
provided the final margin.
Reid led all ground-gainers in the game with 142 yards and two TDs on 21 carries, while Dildine added 15 yards on three carries.
Lister
completed 9 of 20 pass attempts for 100 yards, and one TD. Babcock led
the Wildcat receivers with four grabs for 40 yards and one TD, while
Rude had two catches for 21 yards, and Reid had two receptions for 16
yards.
Drickwhile Almeida rushed for 41 yards on four carries.
Almeida completed 11 of 18 pass attempts for 47 yards and one TD, but was picked off twice.
Athens,
now 5-1, will likely travel to Danville Friday for the semifinals of
the District 4, Class AAA semifinals. (The playoff pairings will be
announced this weekend.)
(Matt Patton contributed to this story.)
ATHENS — Athens scored in the final 30 seconds of the first half, and
then three more times in the second half to erase an 18-7 deficit en
route to a 35-18 win over South Williamsport here Friday night in NTL
football action at Alumni Stadium.
“We did some gut-checking at
halftime. We talked about physicality. We weren’t tackling well,” said
longtime Athens coach Jack Young. “We changed our defensive plan in the
second half, and we improved our tackling. To me, that was the key.
“(South)
is a physical football team, and we talked about that all week,” noted
Young. “We came out and did exactly what we wanted to in the first
drive, then we let them push us around, and control the physicality of
the game.
“We came out against a very physical offensive football team, and our kids responded. In the second half, they really responded.
“The
bottom line is, we played three games in 13 days. That’s difficult, I
don’t care who you are,” added Young. “It was a great team W.”
Young
said the Wildcats played well on both sides of the ball in the second
half, but the biggest play of the game was made on special teams — a
blocked punt by senior Ben Pernaselli that set up the go-ahead TD in the
third quarter.
“Ben’s is a game-changer. He changed that game
with the blocked punt,” said Young. “On punt return, he has the green
light to go get the ball if he thinks he can get it. He went right
through the blocker, and blocked that punt — to me that was the
game-changer.”
The Wildcats rushed for 273 yards, with 171 yards
coming after the halftime intermission. Junior Shayne Reid led the way
with 199 yards and two TDs on 22 carries, while sophomore Caleb Nichols
had 33 yards and one TD on seven carries, senior fullback Tanner Dildine
added 22 yards on three touches.
“Our senior linemen — Connor
Sindoni, Lucas Aquilio, Ian Wright, Zac Gowin, who is a newcomer for us,
Caleb Houseknecht, and Ben Pernaselli really stepped it up for us,”
said Young.
After forcing South Williamsport into a punt on its
first possession, Athens took the ball and marched 82 yards on seven
plays to take a 7-0 lead. Reid covered 76 yards on five carries,
including an 18-yard TD run with 4:44 left in the first quarter.
The
Mounties scored on its next three possessions with Zach Miller doing
the majority of the damage. He rushed for 125 yards and one TD on 16
carries in the first two quarters, but only finished with 152 yards on
27 carries.
Miller ripped off runs of 35 and 24 yards in South’s
five-play, 67-yard scoring drive that was capped by QB Landon Lorson
3-yard TD run with 2:27 left in the first quarter. The point-after was
no good leaving Athens ahead 7-6.
After a quick three-and-out by
the Wildcats, the Mounties marched 63 yards on nine plays, with Miller
carrying the ball seven times for 44 yards, including a 5-yard TD run
with 8:55 remaining in the first half. The conversion failed, but South
led 12-7.
The Wildcats got a quick first down on its next
possession, thanks to a 10-yard pass from Lister to junior Karter Rude,
but a penalty and a pair of negative plays left them facing 4th-and-24.
The
Mounties needed just five plays to march 56 yards after the Wildcat
punt, with Lorson connecting with Grant Bachman on a 29-yard TD hook-up
with 4:05 left in the half to up the advantage to 18-7.
The Wildcat offense roared back to life on its next possession.
Lister
completed three passes — 8- and 9-yarders to Reid, and a 16-yard
completion to Rude, and Nichols picked up 17 yards on four carries to
move the ball to the South Williamsport 9 with 37 seconds remaining in
the first half.
The Wildcats caught a break when Reid’s fumble at
the 1 was recovered by a Mountie as he rolled out-of-bounds, leaving
the Wildcats with possession at the 1. Lister finished off the drive
with a QB keeper with 28 seconds remaining.
Reid’s second point-after kick trimmed the deficit to 18-14.
The
Wildcat defense bailed out the special teams early in the third
quarter. On the opening kick of the second half, Athens failed to cover a
squib kick, and the Mounties pounced on it at the Athens 19.
Six
plays later, on fourth-and-goal at the 7, Grant Bachman hauled in a
pass from Lorson, but Athens defensive back Jared Peterson made a
TD-saving tackle at the 1.
The Wildcats picked up a pair of first
downs to move the ball out of the shadow of their end zone, but
eventually punted the ball away. Nichols’ 52-yard punt pinned the
Mounties at their own 15.
Athens forced South into a
three-and-out, and Pernaselli came up with a punt block, and Aiden
Harford pounced on the loose ball at South’s 1-yard line.
“Our
stop after a big, big mistake on the opening kickoff of the second half
was huge, but Ben Pernaselli’s blocked punt was the game-changer,” said
Young.
Lister scored on his second 1-yard plunge of the game on
Athens’ first play, and Reid’s point-after kick made it 21-18 with 3:38
left in the first quarter.
The Athens defense forced another three-and-out, and the offense drove 78 yards on nine plays to increase its lead.
Reid
covered the final 51 yards on three carries, including a 10-yard TD run
with 10:12 remaining in the contest. Reid’s fourth PAT made it 28-18.
South
Williamsport fumbled the ball away at its 25 on its ensuing possession,
and Athens needed just two plays to find paydirt — a 20-yard run by
Reid, and an 8-yard TD scamper by Nichols. Reid’s point-after kick with
7:38 remaining provided the final margin.
Later in the quarter,
the Wildcats nearly added to their lead when sophomore linebacker Troy
Jennings scooped up a Mountie fumble and rumbled 25 yards for an
apparent score, but a block-in-the-back call negated the TD.
Lister,
who had two rushing TDs, completed 5 of 12 passes for 50 yards. Rude
and Reid each had two grabs, Rude’s for 26 yards, and Reid’s for 17.
Athens, now 4-1, travels to Montgomery Friday.
ATHENS — It took a couple of series to shake off the rust — the result
of not playing a game in 31 days, but once Canton hit its stride, it put
together a convincing performance in a 33-9 win over Athens here Monday
night in NTL Large School football action at Alumni Stadium.
“We
were rusty, which I’m not happy about, but I guess it had to be
expected,” said Canton coach Tyler Sechrist. “We haven’t played in a
month, and we only had three practices before this game.
“Once we got rolling, I was happy with the way we played,” added Sechrist.
“They
are a good football team, there’s no doubt. They are well-coached, and
have some talented kids,” said Athens coach Jack Young. “But, we did
some things that are out of character for us, and it’s tough to compete
against a team like Canton when you do those types of things.”
The
Warriors opened the game with the ball, but a block-in-the-back penalty
and a QB sack by seniors Athens Tanner Dildine and Caleb Houseknecht
left them in a fourth-and-30 hole.
The Wildcats took over at
their own 40 following a Canton punt, and quickly moved into Warrior
territory as sophomore QB Mason Lister connected with junior Shayne Reid
on a 12-yard completion, and junior Karter Rude on a 17-yard pick-up.
The drive bogged down after Lister could not handle a high shotgun snap, and the Wildcats were forced to punt.
Junior
Caleb Nichols’ punt went out-of-bounds at the Canton 18, and the
Warriors fumbled the ball away on their first play, giving the Wildcats
the ball just 16 yards from paydirt.
The Canton defense, however,
limited Athens to just three yards on three plays, forcing the Wildcats
to attempt a field goal. Reid spilt the uprights from 30 yards out to
give Athens a 3-0 lead with 6:23 remaining in the first quarter.
The
rest of the first half was all Canton as they scored on their next
three possessions, and added a defensive score on an odd play as time
expired.
“Athens came out strong,” said Sechrist. “They were
pretty tough the first series against the run, but I think we wore some
of those big guys down a little bit. We just kept after them.
“I was happy with our two backs, and the way the (offensive) line came back answered,” he added.
“Canton
definitely got some momentum off that stop,” said Young. “You would
think the momentum would have been on our side at that point, but it
wasn’t.
“From there on, it was just too many negatives,” added
Young. “We missed on two scoring opportunities in the first half, and
there were too many negatives. When the negatives outweigh the
positives, it’s tough to compete.”
The Warriors answered Athens’
field goal with an eight-play, 58-yard scoring drive. The first seven
plays featured the running of sophomores Hayden Ward and Riley Parker.
Parker
ripped off 22 yards on three carries, and Ward added 16 yards on three
carries. The drive culminated with a wide receiver screen to Joel
Schoonover for a 22-yard TD with 1:56 remaining in the first quarter.
Tyler Jannone’s PAT snuck over the crossbar to give Canton a 7-3 lead.
Jared
Peterson returned the ensuing kickoff 30 yards to midfield, but the
Warriors forced a punt after just three plays. Nichols’ punt bounced
through the end zone, giving Canton the ball at its 20.
Runs of
20 yards by junior QB Cooper Kitchen, and 25 yards by Parker quickly
moved the ball to the Wildcat 35. Five plays later, Kitchen connected
with 6-5 tight end Ben Knapp on a 15-yard TD pass to make it 13-3 with
9:01 remaining in the first half.
Disaster struck for the
Wildcats on the ensuing kickoff as Ward stripped the Athens returner of
the ball, then recovered the fumble at the Wildcat 24.
Following a
12-yard run by Ward, Parker covered the final 12 yards on two carries,
including an 8-yard TD jaunt with 7:38 remaining. Jannone’s point-after
kick made it 20-3.
After an exchange of punts, Athens took over
at its 17, and were quickly pinned back inside their 10 following a
holding penalty.
Aided by a pair of Canton penalties that
accounted for 25 yards, the Wildcats drove the length of the field. Runs
of 18 and 10 yards by Lister, and completions from Lister to Rude for
10 and 12 yards were key in the drive.
With time running out,
Lister attempted to scramble into the end zone, but he was hit at Canton
5-yard line as time expired. Trying to keep the play alive, Lister
flipped the ball backward toward a teammate, but it found the turf,
where Canton sophomore Weston Bellows scooped it up at the 17, and raced
83 yards for the score to make it 26-3 at the half.
“That was a
huge change of events, it’s not something you usually see,” said
Sechrist. “I thought (Athens) was going to score, (but) we end up
scooping and scoring right before the half; that was a big part of the
outcome.”
“Mason was just trying to make something happen, but
those are mistakes we can’t make,” said Young. “It should have been
19-3, and we’re still in it.
“Two of their scores in the first
half came off turnovers.,” noted Young. “You take those two away, and
it’s a 12-3 game at the half.”
Athens took the second-half
kickoff, and thanks to 35 rushing yard by Reid, who also caught a pair
of passes for 15 yards, marched into the Canton red zone.
On
fourth-and-6 at the Canton 13, Lister connected with 6-5 junior J.J.
Babcock in the back of the end zone to cut the deficit to 26-9.
Moments
after the ensuing kickoff, the Wildcats caught a big break when a
backward pass bounced off the intended Warrior receiver’s shoulder pads,
and Rude recovered it at the Canton 22. An unsportsmanlike conduct
call against the Warriors moved the ball half-the-distance to the goal
line.
Four plays later, Reid was stopped inches short of a first down at the Canton 1.
“Our defense hung in there a couple times,” said Sechrist.
“We
got the stop after the turnover in the third quarter, and we held them
to a field goal after a fumble early in the game,” he added. “Those were
big, that’s what helps you win football games.”
“We thought we
had the first down, but those are the breaks of the game,” said Young.
“We’re still OK if we make a quick stop, but on third-and-long, they
punch one out there on us, and that was kind of a back-breaker.”
The “back-breaker” was a 15-yard run by Parker on third-and-8 from the Warrior 3.
After
a Canton punt, Athens moved the ball to the Warrior 33, but
back-to-back sacks by junior Caiden Williams and senior Derek
Atherton-Ely ended the threat.
Canton moved the ball into Athens
territory, thanks in large part to 29 yards on three carries by Parker,
but the Warriors threat ended with their third lost fumble in the
contest.
Athens ensuing possession was short-lived as Knapp
registered a QB sack, and Williams and freshman Mason Harold combined to
haul Lister down behind the line-of-scrimmage to force a turnover on
downs.
Parker put the finishing touches on the Warrior win with a 47-yard TD run with 3:23 remaining in the contest.
Lister
was sacked six times in the fourth quarter, with senior Evan Landis and
freshman Hudson Ward getting to him in the Wildcats’ final possession
of the game.
Parker led the Warrior ground game with 176 yards
and two TDs on 19 carries, while Hayden Ward added 50 yards on seven
carries, and Kitchen chipped in with 25 yards on six carries. As a team,
Canton rushed for 254 yards on 36 attempts.
Kitchen also
completed 6 of 8 pass attempts for 46 yards and two TDs. Knapp led
Canton with three receptions for 25 yards and one TD, and Schoonover had
two grabs for 25 yards and one TD.
Reid led the Wildcats with 78 rushing yards on 17 carries, and seven receptions for 50 yards.
Lister
completed 15 of 29 pass attempts for 121 yards and one TD. Rude had
four catches for 40 yards, while sophomore Caleb Nichols had two grabs
for 25 yards. Babcock had his 13-yard TD catch, and senior Ben
Pernaselli had one reception for seven yards.
Athens, now 3-1, hosts South Williamsport Saturday night.
ATHENS — Athens coach Jack Young knew this had the makings of a trap game.
The
contest had been moved from Friday to Saturday, then Saturday to
Monday. It wasn’t until 9:30 a.m. Monday morning that they had confirmed
they were going to play.
Still, his Athens team responded,
making the most of five Towanda turnovers to roll to a 44-14 win in NTL
football action Monday.
“We talked about taking care of
opportunities when we have them, and trying to make opportunities for
ourselves,” said Young. “At the same time, we still made some silly
mistakes with formations and things like tha,t but I think we’re coming.
“We’re getting better and better and better and, when you play
in these circumstances, and Towanda’s played some really solid defense,”
added Young. “Once again, I think the line-of-scrimmage was real key
for us tonight as it was against Wyalusing.”
The Wildcats
dominated on the ground — rushing for 201 yards on 39 carries, led by
Shayne Reid’s 108 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. But whoever
touched the ball did things with it — Caleb Nichols ran for 35 yards on
nine carries with a touchdown, and through the air Karter Rude had five
catches for 98 yards.
“I’m super proud of the way they’re playing
as a group,” said Young. “We’ve got a lot of kids we’re getting on the
field and that makes me proud as a coach.”
Under center, Mason
Lister was 7-for-17 for 122 yards, while also running for 36 yards and a
score on seven carries. JJ Babcock had two catches for 24 yards.
After
a flat start, Athens got going as the Knights had four turnovers in the
first half, which gave them short fields, and the Wildcats took
advantage of them. Then, in the second half they took care of business
early to put the game away.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the kids,”
said Young. “We came in a little bit early to do some walk-through stuff
to make sure our minds were right; again, not a perfect game, but I’m
real, real proud of the way we’re playing as a team.”
The Wildcats were flagged 11 times for 55 yards, but didn’t turn the ball over once.
For
Towanda, Rhyan West ran for 84 yards on 14 carries with a score while
Mitchell Mosier was 5-for-15 for 58 yards with a touchdown and two
picks.
Haven Benjamin-Fee had two catches for 42 yards, while
Justin Schoonover caught two passes for 10 yards and a touchdown. Trent
Kithcart ran eight times for 24 yards, and also caught a 3-yard pass.
The
Black Knights took the opening kick-off and seemed to be in business,
thanks to an 8-yard run by Benjamin-Fee on second down. A 3-yard rush by
Mosier gave them a new set of downs near midfield.
However, Athens bogged down the Towanda offense, holding them to short gains and forcing a punt.
On
Athens’ ensuing drive, Lister hit Rude for an 11-yard gain and a new
set of downs, but the Towanda defense held, forcing the Wildcats to
punt.
Towanda’s second possession began with a 10-yard run by
Kithcart to get out to its own 30-yard line. However, two plays later, a
Mosier pass was picked off by Jaden Wright, giving Athens the ball back
inside the Towanda 40-yard line.
A first-down hold pushed the
Wildcats back to midfield, but an 11-yard run by Nichols got the yardage
back. An 8-yard pass play of Lister-to-Rude set up third-and-short.
Towanda held on third dow,n but Athens’ Reid punched through the line
for a new set of downs on fourth down, rumbling to the Towanda 22-yard
line.
He followed that up with a 15-yard run inside the 10-yard
line. Two plays later, Lister rolled out left and dove just inside the
pylon for the touchdown, finishing off the 49-yard, 7-play scoring
drive.
Reid added the point-after for the 7-0 lead with 1:07 left in the first quarter.
On
Towanda’s ensuing drive, back-to-back runs by West and Mosier set up
third-and-short, but Athens broke through the line and forced Kithcart
to fumble the ball. It was scooped up by the Wildcats, and they set up
shot at Towanda’s own 31-yard line.
Once again the drive start
with a penalty — this one illegal procedure, but an 11-yard run by
Lister got the yardage back. Two shorts runs by Nichols and Lister got
them a new set of downs.
A false start backed them up again, but Lister hit Babcock with a 7-yard pass play to get inside the Towanda red zone.
Two
plays later, on 3rd-and-6 Reid rumbled for 10 yards to set up a
first-and-goal at the Knight 6-yard line. Three plays later, on
3rd-and-1, Reid punched it in for the touchdown to end the 36-yard,
9-play scoring drive. He added the point-after for the 14-0 lead with
8:40 left in the half.
Towanda’s ensuing drive ended with another turnover, as on third down they fumbled the ball back to Athens.
The
Wildcats took over at Towanda’s 37-yard line, but the Knights continued
to play stingy defense. After a first-down incompletion, Towanda held
Reid to short gains on the next two downs to set up a 4th-and-2 at the
20-yard line.
Athens went back to Reid, who punched through for a
5-yard gain and a new set of downs. Towanda’s defense held up, though,
forcing Athens two two more short runs and an incompletion. On 4th-and-5
from the Towanda 7-yard line the Wildcats elected for a field goal and
Reid hit the 24-yarder to make it 17-0 with 3:50 left in the half.
On the ensuing kick-off, Towanda fumbled again and Athens recovered at the Knight 22-yard line.
It
would take them two plays to find pay dirt — a 21-yard pass play from
Lister to Rude, followed by a Reid 1-yard plunge. Athens tried a fake
PAT on the point-after attempt, but it was no good. Still, they led 23-7
with 3:13 let in the first half.
The ensuing Knight possession
started promising as West broke four Athens tackles at the
line-of-scrimmage as he rumbled 29 yards down the left side of the
field. However, a short gain and two incompletions later and Towanda was
punting again.
Athens took over at their 38-yard line, but
struggled as well. They would turn it over on downs as lister went
0-for-3 on the drive.
With 1:06 left on the clock and starting at
the Athens 45-yard line Towanda wouldn’t get a better chance to put
points up on the scoreboard.
They took it, as on second down
Mosier hit Benjamin-Fee on a crossing pattern. He out ran most of the
Athens defense with Reid saving a touchdown as he tackled Benjamin-Fee
at the 4-yard line.
The Wildcat defense would catch Towanda for a
3-yard loss on the next play, while Mosier’s second-down pass to
Kithcart was well defended by the official, who inadvertently blocked
Kithcart from making the catch.
However, on the next play Towanda
finally got a good bounce as Mosier’s pass intended for Kithcart was
deflected into the air, but came down into the hands of Justin
Schoonover.
The 4-yard completion was the Knights’ first score
of the season and, after Logan Lambert’s point after, Towanda cut it to
23-7 with 21 seconds left in the half. It was a 45-yard, 5-play scoring
drive.
Athens came out strong in the second half, taking the
ensuing kickoff and going 74 yards on seven plays to paydirt. A pitch
two Reid on the first play netted 32 yards to get to midfield. An
11-yard Lister run followed, with Nichols then rumbling six yards for a
new set of downs at the Towanda 30-yard line.
Lister then hit
Rude for a 15-yard pass play. That was followed by back-to-back 6-yard
runs to set up first-and-goal at the 3-yard line. Reid punched it in
and, after Reid’s point-after, Athens led 30-7 with 8:32 left in the
third quarter.
On Towanda’s ensuing drive Mosier did a good job
keeping it alive, running for 8-yards on 3rd-and-1, but on the next play
he was picked off by Nichols, who returned it to the Towanda 5-yard
line.
Back-to-back Nichols runs got Athens to the end zone. Reid
hit the point-after and the Wildcats now led 37-7 with 5:38 left in the
third.
Towanda’s next drive began with two strong runs by West
and Kithcart, which ended in a new set of downs at their own 41-yard
line, but it stalled out there and the Knights were forced to punt.
Penalties
killed Athens’ ensuing drive as a block-in-the-back and delay of game
set up a 3rd-and-19. Lister hit Babcock for a 17-yard gain, which set up
4th-and-2.
On the fourth-down run by Nichols, though, Towanda’s
Clay Watkins made a big stop at the line-of-scrimmage and forced a
turnover on downs.
A 9-yard run on second down by West got
Towanda across midfield, but back-to-back negative runs by the Knights
forced a turnover on downs on them.
Athens took over at their own
44 yard line and, on the second play from scrimmage, Lister hit Rude
for a 43-yard gain down to the Towanda 11-yard line.
Three plays
later, on 3rd-and-3 from the 4, Athens’ Jared Peterson punched it in for
their final touchdown of the night. Reid added the point-after and the
Wildcats led 44-7, after the 56-yard, 5-play drive with 10:04 left in
the game.
Towanda had one final drive left in them and, starting
on their own 30-yard line, took nine plays to go the 70 yards to pay
dirt.
Runs of 13 and 15 yards by West set up Towanda inside the
Athens 40-yard line. A Kithcart 7-yard run on second down made it
3rd-and-5. Mosier would hit Schoonover for a 4-yard gain, making it
4th-and a long 1.
Mosier drew the Athens defense offsides,
giving them a new set of downs at the 23-yard line. After an
incompletion on first down, a bad snapped on second looked like a busted
play, but West made something of it, picking up the rolling ball and
darting his way through the Wildcat defense for a 23-yard touchdown run.
Lambert hit the point-after and it was now a 44-14 game, which is how it would end.
Athens’
NTL ‘North’ schedule is done — they get a bye this week, then host
South Williamsport the following Friday. But, if this season has shown
anything, it’s that tomorrow isn’t certain.
WYALUSING — This was the game Athens coach Jack Young was waiting for,
and his team’s 21-14 victory over Wyalusing Friday night was worth the
wait.
It was a complete Wildcat effort as they dominated the
line-of-scrimmage, put together long drives and held a Wyalusing offense
to half the yardage it put up in its win last week against CV.
“It’s
huge, absolutely huge,” Athens quarterback Mason Lister said about
getting the win. “A great game that came down to the wire — it was a
little closer than I wanted it to be, but we made it work.”
The big improvement for Athens came up front as Athens won the battle in the trenches.
“Those
guys played really well on both sides of the ball,” said Young. “Our
line was much improved tonight because they feel like they didn’t play a
real good game against Sayre.”
Young mentioned his seniors —
Lucas Aquilio, Connor Sindoni, Ian Wright, Zac Gowin and Ben Pernaselli —
as the key to their play this week. They outgained the Rams 165-121 on
the ground and, at one point in the second half, held the ball for more
than 10 minutes.
“We told them coming in ‘you guys are the key,’”
Young said. “As many athletes as we are getting involved in the game on
both sides, the key is still the line-of-scrimmage.”
ATHENS — Hobbled by leg cramps for most of the second half, junior
Shayne Reid split the uprights on a 27-yard field goal late in the
fourth quarter to lift Athens to a 10-7 win over Sayre here at Alumni
Stadium Friday night in the annual Rusty Rail rivalry game.
The kick was Reid’s first career field goal.
“It
feels amazing. All I was thinking about was getting it through the two
poles,” he said. “Everything — the snap and the hold — was perfect.”
“Shayne
(Reid) could barely walk,” said Athens coach Jack Young. “We carried
him out onto the field, and he kicked the game-winner — they write
stories about that kind of stuff.”
The win snaps Sayre’s two-year hold on the Rusty Rail trophy.
“It feels insane,” said Reid. “We all worked very hard for this. We worked all summer, and we came and got it.”
Young was pleased to bring the Rusty Rail back to Athens.
“It’s
awesome,” he said. “As ugly as this game was, it really is what rivalry
games are all about — battling back-and-forth and scrapping.
“I’m
super-happy for the kids, it’s been a long three weeks,” noted Young.
“I could not be prouder of our effort, and with how the kids hung in
there.”
And ugly it was.
Athens was penalized 11 times for
115 yards, and committed three turnovers, while Sayre was flagged eight
times for 50 yards, and also turned the ball over three times.
“We probably led the state tonight in penalties,” said Young. “Some of them were foolish, and they have to be corrected.”
“We gave the game away,” said Sayre coach Kevin Gorman. “We shot ourselves in the foot constantly with turnovers and penalties.
“Overall, I thought we played well offensively and defensively, but when it’s crunch time, we can’t fumble,” added Gorman.
The
Wildcats used a big play on the opening kickoff to get a little early
momentum as Reid reeled off a 30-yard return to the Sayre 49.
Sophomore
QB Mason Lister completed three consecutive passes for 25 yards,
including a 15-yard catch-and-run to Reid to move the ball to the
Redskin 24.
Five plays later, Sayre senior Matt Lane stripped Reid of the ball after a 7-yard gain at the Redskin 5.
“We
put together a nice drive and then turned it over in the red zone,”
said Young. “We have to get better in that area … we have to eliminate
those kinds of mistakes.”
“We coach that, when we’re
gang-tackling, guys get in there and start ripping at the ball,” said
Gorman. “It was a big play — a big turnover down deep.
“Kudos to
(Athens), they came out throwing the ball,” added Gorman. “I knew they
could do it, but I didn’t expect it. Our guys needed a little time to
adjust, but once they did, they played well.”
On Sayre’s second
play, junior David Northrop ripped off a 12-yard run, then junior Jake
Bennett followed with runs of 8 and 13 yards to move the ball to the
Sayre 37.
However, a pair of penalties bogged down the Redskin
drive, and they were forced to punt. Disaster struck when the snap
sailed over sophomore Lucas Horton’s head, and the Wildcats took
possession after a 27-yard loss by the Redskins at the Sayre 11.
An
offensive pass interference call against the Wildcats on their first
play of the possession moved the ball back to the Sayre 26, but two
plays later Lister rolled right under pressure and found Reid open in
the back of the end zone for a 25-yard TD pass with 3:49 remaining in
the first quarter.
Reid tacked on the extra point to give Athens a 7-0 lead.
After
an exchange of possessions, Sayre used its ground game in a 12-play,
44-yard march to the Wildcat 15, before turning the ball over on downs
with 5:12 remaining in the first half.
Athens picked up a pair of
first downs, but fumbled the ball away, and the Redskins took over at
the Wildcat 39 with 2:12 remaining in the first half.
A nine-yard run by Bennett, and a 15-yard run by Horton quickly advanced the ball into the red zone at the Athens 15.
The
Redskins moved the ball to the Athens 3, but twice were flagged for
illegal procedure, and ended up running out of time with the ball at the
3.
At the end of the half, Sayre had two opportunities, and we made plays — that’s what rivalry games are all about,” said Young.
“We didn’t give up any big plays tonight, and that was one of our goals.
“When
teams put together a few first downs on you, it becomes a matter of
digging deep and making a play, and we did that all night long,” added
Young.
“We had our chances, especially late in the first half,”
said Gorman. “We can’t make those kinds of mistakes when we’re on the
doorstep like that.”
The second half started exactly as the first
half did, except it was a 22-yard kick return by Northrop that set the
Redskins up at the Athens 49.
After one first down, Sayre was forced to punt. Reid mishandled Horton’s punt, but recovered the muff at the Wildcat 9.
Five plays later, the Wildcats fumbled the ball away at their own 19.
The
Redskins needed just one play — a 19-yard scamper around left end by
Northrop — to find paydirt. Senior Nic Bentley’s PAT kick tied the game
at 7-7 with 7:14 remaining in the third quarter.
After an
exchange of punts, Athens sophomore Caleb Nichols stepped in front of a
Horton pass and returned it 15 yards to the Sayre 26.
The Redskin defense, however, forced a quick turnover on downs, and gave the ball back to the Sayre offense at its 23.
After another exchange of punts, the Redskins took over at their own 10.
Two
plays after runs of 13 and 8 yards by Northrop, Athens senior Tanner
Dildine pounced on a botched Redskin hand-off to give the Wildcats
possession at the 38.
Lister completed passes of 5 yards to
sophomore Karter Rude, and 9 yards to Dildine to move the ball to the
Sayre 24, and Reid then ripped off an 11-yard run — his longest of the
game — to the Redskin 13.
After two rushing attempts and
incomplete pass moved the ball just three yards to the Sayre 10, Reid
lined up and delivered the game-winning 27-yard field goal with 2:17
remaining in the contest.
On the ensuing kickoff, Northrop broke
free and galloped to the Wildcat 47, but a block-in-the-back flag
brought the ball back to the Redskin 20.
Sayre moved the ball to
the Athens 45 in short order, thanks in large part to a 32-yard
completion from Horton to senior Tavone McClenny, but Athens senior
defensive end Ben Pernaselli stripped Horton of the ball in the
backfield moments later, and Dildine recovered with 42 seconds left to
effectively end the game.
Lister completed 16 of 25 pass attempts
for 160 yards and one TD. Rude led the Wildcat receivers with seven
catches for 86 yards, and Reid added three receptions for 45 yards and
one TD.
Athens rushed for just 58 yards on 27 carries, with Reid’s 33 yards on seven carries leading the way.
The
Redskins rushed for 178 yards on 32 carries. Northrop led the way with
95 yards on 15 carries, and Bennett added 84 yards on 14 carries.
Horton
completed 4 of 14 pass attempts for 47 yards, and was intercepted once.
Josh Arnold had two grabs for nine yards, and McClenny had one catch
for 32 yards.
The Wildcats return to action Friday at Canton, while the Redskins are off until Sept. 25 when they host Cowanesque Valley.
ATHENS — For the first time since 1980, Athens and Sayre will open the
season against each other here Friday night at Alumni Stadium.
“I
know they talked about playing the rivalry games early in the season to
make sure we’d play these games, but I don’t think anyone anticipated
Week 1,” said Athens coach Jack Young. “At the same time, our kids would
be happy, and I think the Sayre kids would be happy, if we played five
weeks in a row — why not?
“It’s been one of those years. When our
kids first heard, they thought we were scrimmaging Sayre, so we had to
set them straight and get them focused,” added Young. “It’s exciting.
Our seniors have set the tone, and said ‘there’s no better way to get it
going than opening up with Sayre.”
“It's going to be
interesting,” said Sayre coach Kevin Gorman. “The (Rusty Rail) game at
the end of the year is always something the players look forward to, but
with the uncertainty of everything I understand why it's week one.
“I
was hoping for a week 2 or 3 game to give us a game or two to get all
the mistakes out of the way, but I'm just looking forward to the season
and the game,” added Gorman. “And, the players are excited to play and
even more excited for the Rusty Rail week one.”
Both coaches agree playing in the season-opener has kept their players focused.
“The
kids probably would have practice all day (Monday) if we had let them
because it’s Sayre week,” said Young. “They’ve been focused and
motivated.”
“It’s definitely helped,” said Gorman. “The high schools only being a minute away from each other, the kids all know each other.
“We had a good camp, and I think the kids are pretty focused,” he added.
This is the 120th edition of the Athens-Sayre rivalry, with the Redskins leading the all-time series 61-48-10.
It’s
the 21st Rusty Rail game. Athens leads the series 17-3, but Sayre has
won the last two games, including a 21-14 win last year at the Lockhart
Street Bowl, following on the heels of a 17-game win streak by the
Wildcats.
Gorman said his team is not obsessing over its two-game win streak.
“I
don’t think the kids are concerned with a win streak, they just know
the Rusty Rail is on the line, and we need to get the trophy back to
Sayre,” he said. “I think that’s the approach during the week.
“I
don’t like to push the Rusty Rail on them. I just want s to go out
there and play our game, and, hopefully, come home with a win,” added
Gorman.
While Athens’ 17-game win streak is the longest in the
rivalry, Sayre has twice put together 10-game win streaks against
Athens. The first was from 1922-26 when the two schools played twice a
year, and from 1933-40, which also included a few years with two games.
Athens
won first game in series 14-0 in 1915, but Sayre won second game, 13-9,
in 1917. Sayre followed it up with wins of 21-0 and 13-0 in 1920.
The
two schools played at least once every year through 1936. After two
years off, they renewed the rivalry in 1939 and have played every year
since, aside from 1965 through 1968, when the rivalry was put on hiatus
due to incidents of school vandalism.
The Redskins are coming off an 8-3 season, which ended with a 26-20 home loss to Muncy in the District 4, Class A semifinals.
The Wildcats were 1-10 in 2019, including back-to-back season-ending losses to Sayre and Waverly.
Both coaches believe Friday’s game boils down to one simple thing.
“If you control the line-of-scrimmage on either side of the ball, you’re more than likely winning the game,” said Gorman.
“We’ve talked about it all week, winning the battle on the line-of-scrimmage is huge,” said Young.
WHEN ATHENS HAS THE BALL
“They
have a big offensive line, so I expect to see a healthy dose of Shayne
Reid, who is a good back,” said Gorman. “He hurt us quite a bit last
year. When you watch films from last year, you see he hurt a lot of
teams.
“They have (J.J.) Babcock on the outside, and Mason Lister
can throw it around a little bit,” noted Gorman. “They may get in
shotgun, and throw it around to get the ball to some of their athletes.
“I
expect the run game first, then for them to drop back and try to catch
us napping with a pass over the top, or something quick,” added Gorman.
WHEN SAYRE IS ON DEFENSE
“They
do a great job of covering the field,” said Young. “We think we see
something, and they adjust quickly. Kevin (Gorman) does a nice job of
getting their kids disciplined defensively.
“They play well as a
unit defensively,” added Young. “We have to be patient offensively. We
have to see what we can take, then take advantage of it and produce.”
WHEN SAYRE HAS THE BALL
”I
don’t think they’re going to be any different than the Sayre teams
we’ve seen the last couple of years,” said Young. “They are going to
formation us, they’re going to spread the field, wanting to run the
ball, and chuck it downfield.”
WHEN ATHENS IS ON DEFENSE
“They
run the 4-3, and they run it well — they know what they’re doing,” said
Gorman. “They do run man, and might mix in a little Cover-3.
“Their
defensive line is big,” noted Gorman. “The key point for us, with our
experienced offensive line, is to control the front to keep Lucas
(Horton) clean when we’re passing, and to open run lanes for our backs —
that definitely will be a big factor for us.
“With it being the
first game, they could have been working on something different
offensively or defensively for the whole camp, or summer, and all of the
sudden they give us a new look, but I expect the 4-3,” added Gorman.
WAVERLY - River Road Media Group, parent company of Valley Sports Report, and Circle W Sports announced a partnership Sunday with the Athens Area School District to provide an athletic web site for all Wildcat sports.