Down by six points in overtime on fourth down from the three yard line, Athens quarterback Trey Harris found Ian Dixon open in the end zone. Dixon snatched the ball, but it slipped through his hands as he fell to the ground and Warren celebrated a 34-28 overtime victory.
Despite leading by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, Athens could not hold off a Warren offense that had outscored its opponents 84-18 during its first two games.
Our motto this year has been battle to the end
and we've done that the last three weeks Athens coach Ryan Adams said. We threw everything but the kitchen sink at them.
A 14-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Leffingwell to Grant Venham with 1:14 remaining in the game cut Athens' lead to 28-26. On the two-point attempt, Leffingwell rolled out and found a receiver in the corner of the end zone to tie the game.
Athens regained control of the ball and drove down to Warren's 28-yard line before Venham intercepted Harris and sent the game to overtime.
Warren opened the overtime period with a methodical seven-play drive in which it twice converted third downs plays, including a 13-yard touchdown pass that proved to be the game-winner.
Leffingwell completed 25 of 46 passes for 368 yards for five touchdowns and three interceptions. Jeremy Fivecoait led Warren receivers with ten receptions for 143 yards.
They obviously were able to take advantage of the flats on us Adams said. They have faith in (Leffingwell's) ability to complete passes throwing the ball that many times. We came up a little short defending it.
The Bulldog offense was led by running back DeVon Sharp, who rushed for 173 on 19 carries and provided a play that sparked Athens' second-half offense.
With only seconds remaining in the first quarter, Sharp fielded a Warren punt at his own 30 yard line and scampered 70 yards down the right sideline to get Athens on the scoreboard. The Bulldogs trailed 7-6 entering halftime.
He ran tremendously
Adams said. We've been working with DeVon on having him just hit the holes and hard instead of doing a little bit of dances. Obviously
that's paying some dividend.
Athens scored 22 points in the third quarter to build its lead to 28-14.
Despite being in control for most of the second half, the bulldogs are still winless on the season. Adams said it will be difficult to get over this game but the team must move on.
We don't know any other way than to keep our nose on the grindstone and keep grinding that bad boy
he said.
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Sports
Rob Ogden
