It’s just another game. That’s the mentality that coach Ryan Adams and his Athens Bulldogs are taking in tonight’s playoff matchup against the Jackson Ironmen.
In only their second Ohio High School Athletic Association playoff game in school history, the Bulldogs enter as the No. 2 seed and will face seventh-seeded Jackson.
“It’s still a football game that kicks off at 7:30,” Adams said. “There’s really nothing different that you can do. All the preparation that you do each week is what’s gotten you there, and that’s certainly what we’ve continued to do.”
Athens and Jackson appear to be two evenly matched teams. They have played a similar schedule with six common opponents.
Against those six teams — Gallia Academy, Warren, Chillicothe, Waverly, Vinton County, and Wellston — Jackson averaged 41 points per game while limiting opponents to 5.5 — a 35.5 point differential. Against those same six teams, Athens scored an average of 30 points and allowed 11 per game.
For the Bulldogs, five of those six games were played away from home, compared to three for Jackson.
Still, Adams said he knows the teams are closely matched.
“Us being two and them being seven doesn’t really have a whole lot of significance other than the fact that we get to host,” Adams said.
Athens might again be without starting senior quarterback Josh Skinner. That might allow Jackson to stack the box in order to stop star running back DeVon Sharp and the ground game, a strategy employed by Nelsonville-York last week.
The poised play of sophomore backup quarterback Michael Germano has taken a lot of the pressure off Adams and his staff. Germano took over in the second half of the Alexander game in Week Eight and has played well in Skinner’s absence.
“There’s no doubt they’re going to key on DeVon. Certainly he’s going to get enough touches to test the waters whether they are keying on him or not,” Adams said. “When you get into the playoffs, you have to be very functional with your passing game as well as your running game. We’ve been utilizing the pass quite a bit in the past couple of weeks with Michael in there and he’s done a nice job with it.”
If Athens is to win this game, Germano won’t be the only player who has to step up. A complete team effort will be needed for the Bulldogs to get their first tournament victory and continue their perfect season.
as506610@ohiou.edu
