Going into their game against Nelsonville-York (10-0), the Athens Bulldogs (9-1) had so many reasons to win this one in particular. If they had won, the Bulldogs would’ve had a perfect 10-0 regular season, beaten their rival at home, won on senior night for their cheerleaders, band members and football players and advanced into the playoffs.
Unfortunately, the Buckeyes had other plans for Athens. In front of hundreds of fans for both teams, the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes simply ran the Bulldogs off of their own field. In all the games this season, this game is by far the most discombobulated the Bulldogs have looked.
Problems arose for Athens early in the contest when Nelsonville-York’s defense forced the Bulldogs to punt with 10:21 remaining in the first quarter. Based on how they performed all other nine games this season, the Bulldogs often scored within a few minutes of the opening quarter.
Defensively, Athens did well against the Buckeyes early on in the game, but too many calls in favor of its opponent didn’t help its attempt to stop the offense. On the other side, Nelsonville-York’s defensive line did a spectacular job containing players like the Bulldogs’ senior running back Anthony Sutton and senior quarterback Daniel Heightland.
The Buckeyes’ first touchdown of the game came early in the second quarter when junior quarterback Cameron Sullivan rushed into the endzone. An unsuccessful point after touchdown made the score 6-0 in favor of the away team.
Nelsonville-York regained possession of the football quickly after a fumble by Athens. After 40 seconds of game time, the Buckeyes scored again with a pass from Sullivan to senior wide receiver Alec Thompson in the endzone. The score at this point was 14-0, including a successful two-point conversion.
Issues continued for the Bulldogs with a handful of incomplete passes from Heightland, and seemingly a lack of communication among the players before and during action. The defense by the Buckeyes also was something Athens wasn’t physically prepared for either.
The Bulldogs got on the board late in the second with a rushing touchdown by Heightland with 18.8 left to go. An unsuccessful PAT by senior kicker Griffin Porter tallied the score to 14-6 Nelsonville-York going into the halftime.
After the half, one player for the Buckeyes that was a living nightmare for Athens’ defense was none other than senior running back Austin Gautier. Gautier could not be stopped from advancing his team to get first downs no matter how many Bulldogs were on him.
He capped off his excellent play with a touchdown of his own with 5:18 remaining in the third quarter. The Athens defense managed to block Nelsonville-York’s PAT attempt, and the score at this point was 20-6 Buckeyes.
Going back to the Buckeyes’ stellar defense, they actually did not allow the Bulldogs to have offensive possession for the entire third quarter.
With only eight seconds off the clock in the fourth, Nelsonville-York got on the board once again with another pass from Sullivan to Thompson. A successful PAT allowed the Buckeyes to have a hefty 21-point lead over the home team.
However, with 7 minutes and 13 seconds left on the clock, a pass from Heightland to junior wide receiver Briar Thomas was Athens’ final score of the game. The Bulldogs tried to do a two-point conversion but failed on their attempt.
For the rest of the fourth quarter, most of the play involved Athens and Nelsonville-York not advancing either way and ended with the Bulldogs’ season being spoiled at the hands of the Buckeyes.
