After a 20-year playoff drought and a pesky losing streak against a tough rival, Athens finally broke through.
Despite blowing a 21-point halftime lead Friday against Nelsonville-York, the Athens Bulldogs did not quit by any means. They rallied, and after a Mitch Rider interception in overtime, kicker Seth Brooks booted the game-winning field goal.
After the 24-21 overtime victory at home in front of what seemed to be the entire city of Athens, Bulldogs head coach Ryan Adams was almost at a loss for words, overcome with joy and emotion.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable, the spirit of this football team,” Adams said. “To have this all turn back around full circle and go into overtime and to have a kid that we’ve brought in to kick a ball and win this game is something else.”
Since taking over as head coach in 2007, Adams has established the program as a force to be reckoned with in the Tri-Valley Conference. But there were three things he was never able to do: beat Nelsonville-York, make the playoffs, or go undefeated.
With a playoff spot already secured, the other two milestones finally arrived Friday.
Most important for Adams and his staff was beating the Buckeyes, and the victory Friday symbolized all the hard work put in by staff and players alike to lead to that moment.
“It’s been an Achilles’ heel for me — five years and five losses and what not — and that’s what we talked about in the locker room before we came out,” Adams said. “We wanted to be the best football team in Southeast Ohio, and the only way we could do it was by getting this win tonight, and we had enough to get it done.”
It will also be the first playoff appearance under Adams and the first for Athens since 1990. The Bulldogs finished the season ranked second in Division III, Region 12.
Perhaps most impressive, however, is that this year’s Bulldogs are the first Athens team ever to finish the season 10-0.
But to Adams, that was all “icing on the cake” after beating the Buckeyes.
Two players added to the roster last week make Athens an even more dangerous team.
After the Bulldogs struggled with their kicking game all year, Adams recruited two soccer players — Brooks and Nathan Cotton — to kick after their soccer season came to an end. Cotton took kickoff responsibilities while Brooks handled extra points and field goals.
Ironically, it was Brooks, having been on the team for less than a week, who was the hero after kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime.
“It’s unbelievable. But the bottom line is this: I had every bit of confidence in the kid to go in there and kick that ball and make it,” Adams said. “I watched him for three consecutive days kick (extra-point attempts) and field goals clear back to the 30-yard line, and he drilled every single one. He never missed.”
If Brooks can sustain that kind of accuracy, the Bulldogs will have another weapon at their disposal that they have not had in years past.
“It’s always great to be at home and to be able to host a playoff game,” Buckeyes coach Dave Boston said. “We definitely have to regroup and get ourselves mentally back on track after a big loss. This is a new season, and we’ve got to take it that way and move on.”
as506610@ohiou.edu
