NTL FOOTBALL: BLOCKED KICK PROPELS SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT TO 26-13 SEASON-OPENING WIN OVER ATHENS (24 PHOTOS) (2024-08-23)
Valley Sports ReportSOUTH WILLIAMSPORT — Athens was in position to take a lead into the halftime intermission, but in the blink of an eye, the momentum turned solidly toward South Williamsport, which went on to a 26-13 season—opening win in NTL football action here Friday night.
“We played good football,” said Athens coach Shawn Bradley. “It’s a game we could have won, maybe should have won.
“I hate saying we coulda, shoulda, woulda … we didn’t win,” he added.
Both teams scored on their first two possessions, and the Mounties led 14-13 just one play into the second quarter.
At that point, the defenses took over, resulting in a string of punts. The last punt left Athens at its own 46 with 2:40 remaining in the first half.
A run of 7 yards by sophomore QB Connor Davidson, and 9 yards by junior tailback Eli Chapman quickly moved the ball to the South 38.
Two plays later, Davidson had a 29-yard TD run nullified by holding call, and the Wildcats were faced with a third-and-11 situation. Davidson took care of that with runs of 8 and 6 yards, then hit sophomore Gage Marmor with a 16-yard pass to the South 9 with 16 seconds left in the half.
After an incompletion, Davidson scrambled for a 7-yard gain to the South 2, but the Wildcats were flagged for a blind-side block, which moved the ball back to the 23.
Zach Fisher lined up for a 40-yard field goal with 2 seconds remaining, but the Mounties blocked it, and Tadd Lusk scooped it up and raced 67 yards for a TD. The Mounties missed the PAT, and led 20-13 at the half.
“We gave up a couple big plays in the first quarter, and went down early, but fought back and got two TDs. We got a turnover and turned that into points, then I screwed us up at the end of the first half,” said Bradley on his decision to attempt a field goal.
“I have to own that,” noted Bradley. “We tried to rush into something we shouldn’t have. I made a mistake, and we paid for it with a blocked kick and return.
“It’s unfortunate for our kids,” he added.
The second half started well for the Wildcats, with Chapman returning the kick 42 yards to the Athens 47.
Davidson then turned a disaster into a big play, chasing down an errant shotgun snap at the 30, shedding a tackler at the 25, then reversing field back to the visitor’s sideline, where he ran over a would-be tackler on his way to a 22-yard gain to the Mounties 31.
On the next play, however, Athens was penalized and faced a first-and-22. The drive stalled and the team traded punts until South took over its own 29 in the final seconds of the third quarter.
Bradley said penalties were costly for the Wildcats.
“We fought in the second half,” he said. “We had a couple 15-yard penalties that either killed our drive or gave (South) new life.
“We get a big kickoff return to start the half, get a big play to move deep into their territory, then we get a 15-yarder,” added Bradley. “You can’t win games that way.”
The Mounties chewed up more than 9 minutes of game clock before Lusk connected with Niko Bowen on a 5-yard TD pass with 2:49 remaining in the contest to cap a 15-play drive. They missed the PAT, but led 26-13.
Senior Riley Campbell returned the ensuing kickoff to the Athens 41, but after a pair of incompletions the Wildcats faced a third-and-10.
Davidson then hit on four of his next five pass attempts to four different receivers — 13 yards to junior Adam Kemp, 11 yards to junior Ryan Cook, 13 yards to junior Sean Peters, and 12 yards to junior Karson Sipley — to move the ball to the Mounties 10.
That was as close as the Wildcats would get as their chances ended with four consecutive incompletions.
The Mounties opened the game with a long drive, capped by a 17-yard TD run by Lusk, to take an early 7-0 lead.
After Davidson returned the ensuing kickoff 49 years to the South 44, the Wildcats went three-and-out, and a punt put South at its own 20.
Two plays later, sophomore Dom Robbins tipped a Lusk pass, Peters came up with the interception, and returned it 30 yards to the South 11.
After a 6-yard run by Davidson, Chapman bulled into the end zone on a 5-yard TD run with 3:27 remaining in the first quarter. The PAT was blocked, and the Wildcats trailed 7-6.
After a big return by Dylan Scheller set the Mounties up at midfield, Lusk found him three plays later on a 34-yard TD pass with 1:15 returning in the first quarter. The PAT kick made it 14-6.
Another nice return by the Wildcats set them up at their 40. Two plays later, Davidson broke loose on a 47-yard run to the South 9. After a 7-yard run by Chapman, Davidson scored from 2 yards out on the first play of the second quarter. Fisher PAT kick made it 14-13 with 11:55 remaining in the half.
Davidson led the Athens ground game, which churned out 191 yards, with 116 yards and one TD on 12 carries, and Chapman added 73 yards and one TD on 14 carries.
“I thought our line played fantastic,” said Bradley. “They opened some holes, and we were able to run the football well. They did a great job today.”
Davidson completed 6 of 20 passes for 67 yards. Kemp led Athens with two receptions for 16 yards.
Sophomores Lucas Persun (one solo stop) and Brendan Cooke (three solos), and junior Caleb Nason (two solos) led Athens with 11 tackles apiece, while Chapman had eight (three solos), Davidson (three solos) added seven, and Sipley (two solos) chipped in with six.
Athens returns to action Friday when it hosts Northwest Area.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens junior Eli Chapman. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens sophomore Connor Davidson. … PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.
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