Lane Heller was ready.
With five seconds to go in the game, Meigs attempted a fake spike, and passed the ball downfield.
The ball fell into Heller’s hands for an interception, sealing a 19-18 win for the Bulldogs Friday night at R. Basil Rutter Field.
Heller’s interception came as a relief to the Bulldogs, as they struggled for most of the night.
“I was in a state of shock for most of the night,” coach Ryan Adams said. “We just did not execute very well.”
In the two drives before the game-ending interception, Athens forced Meigs to turn the ball over on downs twice.
In the first of those drives, Heller, a junior, made the play to knock the ball away in the end zone.
Heller’s play seemed to cause a change in the Bulldogs mood, as some plays seemed to demoralize them a little.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Easton McCollum said as he ran over to celebrate the big play with his teammate.
The other turnover on downs that Athens forced came with Meigs on its side of the field, and Robert Dickelman made the hit that knocked the ball out the Meigs wide receiver’s hands.
With the Bulldogs struggles Friday — they trailed 18-7 at halftime — someone was needed to step up.
That someone was sophomore Nate Trainer.
Trainer was needed to take more snaps on both sides of the ball, as the Bulldogs were without Treyce Albin, their main offensive weapon and top cornerback on defense.
Quarterback Clay Davis threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Trainer in the first half. Trainer also was key in some of the Athens stops on the way to shutting out Meigs in the second half.
“That’s a sophomore,” Adams said. “That kid has really stepped up and down some good things for us.”
Some of the struggles the Bulldogs had came because of Meigs pulling out some trick plays. The Marauders ran a fake punt for a first down, then later scored on the drive.
“Very few teams put as much trickery in a football game as (the) Meigs Marauders do,” Adams said. “They certainly did a nice job of executing a few of those that put us in a bad spot.”
From allowing 18 points in the first half — a point total the Bulldogs hadn’t given up since their Sept. 1 loss to Canal Winchester — to shutting out Meigs in the second half, the defense did what it has done all season: step up when needed.
“We couldn’t have taken any more points on the board,” Adams said. “Or else we would be in a lot different spirit.”
