Nathan White fixed his gaze on the turf of Boston Field as he held a post-game huddle with the Bulldogs. A quick few words were shared and the second-year head coach dismissed his players.
Meanwhile at midfield, Nelsonville-York players cheered and emptied the contents of their water bottles onto each other. The Doc Kroner trophy, a 3-feet tall trophy adorned with a brass football on top, was hoisted above the Buckeyes while fans celebrated in the stands.
Athens (2-3, 2-2 TVC-Ohio) didn’t say much while it packed up its equipment and headed for the buses. The scoreboard said it all— Nelsonville-York had defeated Athens 36-6.
“It's hard to really analyze because our offense was not really our offense for three-and-a-half quarters,” White said. “We've got to continue to get tougher and to get better, position by position every day.”
After a strong victory at Meigs last week, Athens had been hopeful that it could defeat Nelsonville-York (4-2, 4-1 TVC-Ohio) if the chips fell in the right place. White knew the offense had to be quicker on the draw, but was confident that the Bulldogs could manage a win if they focused on what went wrong.
Well-focused practice can’t make up for an injured starting quarterback, unfortunately.
Midway through the second quarter, Joey Moore was pulled from the game after experiencing trouble with his left shoulder. Within a few minutes, Moore was changed out of his jersey into a T-shirt and an ice pack was applied to his shoulder.
In an instant, Athens had lost its keystone player and they were down by two touchdowns. Morale among the Bulldogs bottomed out.
“I mean, we lost our best player,” White said. “We run everything through a quarterback and it's just kind of a risk that I'm willing to take. When we lose that guy, you know it's gonna be tough sledding.”
In Moore’s stead, Athens substituted in starting receiver Landon Wheatley. Wheatley hadn’t seen any action at quarterback before Friday.
Before Wheatley took the reins, Athens had struggled throughout the first half to find any offensive footing whatsoever. Much like in most of the regular season, the Bulldogs couldn’t reach the endzone in the first quarter.
Wheatley did his best to rally his troops. He even managed what Moore couldn’t, and threw to Peyton Gail, who ran 52 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was too little too late. The game had a running clock since the beginning of the quarter when Nelsonville-York scored its fifth touchdown of the night.
“We put a lot on our quarterback's plate,” White said. “Landon came in and did a great job. You know he's a starting receiver for us, so he doesn't get any reps at quarterback.”
Athens has yet to hear a diagnosis on the seriousness of Moore’s injury. For the time being, however, Wheatley is being treated as the current quarterback through next week.
The Bulldogs are in dire straits. The OHSAA playoffs begin next Friday and Athens is missing its starting quarterback. Wheatley will need to adjust to his new position as soon as possible, or else Athens will be spending Week 8 at home.
