NTL FOOTBALL: DAVIDSON POWERS ATHENS TO 29-13 WIN OVER WYALUSING (16 PHOTOS) (2024-10-11)
By CHRIS MANNINGValley Sports ReportWYALUSING — Athens used the big play on offense, and a bend-but-don’t-break mantra on defense to get a big road win over Wyalusing, 29-13, in NTL football action Friday.
All four of the Wildcat touchdowns came on plays of 30 yards or more, and they all had sophomore Connor Davidson at the heart of them, as he ran for three touchdowns and passed for the other.
“It feels amazing,” Davidson said about the win. “We’ve been practicing hard all week, and it really showed off today. It really paid off today.”
Davidson was just shy of 200 yards on the ground, running for 198 on 17 carries to go with those three scores. Through the air he was 4-for-11 for 73 yards with a touchdown and two picks.
Adam Kemp had the touchdown catch, finishing the day with two receptions for 37 yards, while Connor Garrison had a big 25-yard reception.
Coming into the game, the Rams had done a good job of ground-and-pound, but the Wildcats held their own in the first half, giving up just one rushing touchdown off a long drive. They also forced four turnovers in the game, and held the Rams scoreless in the second half.
“We don’t do that, and that scoreboard could be the other way around,” remarked Davidson.
Caleb Nason had a big game in the trenches with multiple tackles-for-loss, and even an interception. Ultimately, Athens putting nearly their entire defense in the box kept the Rams in check, despite Wyalusing running 61 offensive snaps to Athens’ 36.
Ayden Hunsinger led Wyalusing with 179 rushing yards on 36 carries, while Ethan Vanderpool had five touches for 22 yards. Reuben Kinney added a rushing touchdown.
Johnny Earle was 3-for-6 for 35 yards, a touchdown, and two picks, with Kinney hauling in a 31-yard touchdown pass.
Wyalusing took the opening kickoff and marched the down field to inside the Athens 30. However, a holding penalty backed them up and they never got back on schedule, with the drive ending on a Sean Peters interception on fourth-and-long.
The Wildcat drive went 3-and-out, giving the ball back to the Rams.
After a good punt return back to the Athens 40, Hunsinger started the drive off with a 12-yard run. Four plays later, they converted on a 4th-and-short to keep things going, and eventually ended up first-and-goal at the 6 after Athens was called for a chop block.
Three plays later, Kinney ran it in from 3 yards out on a jet sweep to put Wyalusing up. Lucas Girven added the point-after to make it 7-0 with 11:55 left in the half.
Athens’ ensuing drive started off with a bang as Davidson hit Garrison for a 30-yard strike. Garrison hauled in the pass despite good defense on Isaac Shaffer’s part.
Wyalusing’s defense would hold them there, though, forcing a punt. However, the ball bounced off a Wyalusing blocker downfield and was recovered by Athens.
They needed just one play to score as Davidson rolled right and found Kemp in the back corner of the end zone for the 28-yard scoring strike.
“That changed the momentum a lot,” said Davidson. “You get a big play, it’ll always keep the energy going the rest of the game.”
Zach Fisher’s kick was good and the game was tied with 9:04 left in the half.
The Rams looked to get their ground game on the ensuing drive, but back-to-back stops by Nason on third and fourth and short turned it over on downs.
Taking over at the 40, Athens went backwards to start the ensuing drive, but a Davidson to Brendan Cooke 11-yard hook-up made it third-and-1.
Wyalusing stopped them on the first run, but on fourth-and-short Davidson was able to evade the Ram rush. In the open field for the first time in the game he went right, then cut back left to paydirt on a 31-yard run.
Fisher’s kick was no good, but Athens led 13-7 with 5:06 left in the half.
Wyalusing’s ensuing drive ended on a turnover on downs. Taking over at midfield, Davidson once again made things happen with his feet, once again getting in the open field and running for 53 yards to paydirt. Fisher’s kick was good for the 20-7 lead with 2:20 left in the half.
The Rams would get their offense going on the next drive, this time through the air as Earle hit James Rogan for an 11-yard gain off the bat.
Four straight runs got them to the Athens 31-yard line. With the Wildcats filling up the box, the Rams went to the air, as Kinney popped out behind the Athens defense; Earle hit him in stride and he ran it in for a 31-yard scoring strike with 34 seconds on the clock.
A false start penalty moved the extra point back, and it was eventually no good, but the Rams cut it to 20-13 at the half.
Athens got the ball back to start the second half but went 3-and-out.
However, a big punt backed the Rams up at their own 3-yard line, giving the Wildcats the field-position edge. It would be the defining feature of the second half.
Wyalusing picked up three first downs to get to the Athens 35, but Earle’s pass was deflected and ended up in the hands of Nason.
Athens took over at the Wyalusing 35, but after an initial 13-yard Davidson run, they turned it back over on downs.
Wyalusing, though, couldn’t get their run game going and was forced to punt. After a good attempt put Athens on the other side of the field, Wyalusing was forced to do it again after a false start.
Punting from their own end zone the snap was low, forcing Girven to go to one knee to field it. He was called for a safety, making it 22-13 game with one quarter left.
Wyalusing tried and onside kick, but it was Nason, again, making the big play for Athens as he covered up the ball.
Four plays later, though, the Rams got the turnover they needed as Earle stepped in front of a jump ball for the interception.
A 40-yard run by Hunsinger followed to get them to midfield. After a pair of Ethan Vanderpool runs, Hunsinger took the ball into the pile, but it was Athens’ Cooke coming out with it.
Taking over at their own 35, the Wildcats got to the 50 on a Davidson 9-yard pass to Kemp. Then, Davidson did what he does best, escaping the collapsing pocket, and squeezed through enough of a wedge to get into the end zone.
Fisher added the point after for the 29-13 lead with 5:22 left in the game.
That effectively put the game out of reach for the Rams as the teams traded empty possessions the rest of the way.
The win gets Athens (4-4) back to .500 as they battle for the final playoff spot in the District IV, Class AAAA playoff race.
They have another tough road game next week at Muncy, but then finish the regular season at home with Sayre.
So close to the playoffs, though, expect Athens to do what their coaches told them at a halftime.
“Stay hungry,” Davidson said. “Stay hungry.”
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING.
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Scoring Summary
Second QuarterW: Reuben Kinney 3-yard run (Lucas Girven kick), 11:55
A: Connor Davidson 31-yard pass play to Adam Kemp (Zach Fisher kick), 9:04
A: Connor Davidson 31-yard run (kick no good), 5:05
A: Connor Davidson 53-yard run (Fisher kick), 2:20
W: Johnny Earle 31-yard pass to Reuben Kinney (kick failed), :34
Third QuarterA: Athens safety on punter kneel down in end zone, :00
Fourth QuarterA: Connor Davidson 50-yard run (Fisher kick), 5:22
Individual Stats
ATHENS
PassingConnor Davidson 4-11-73-1-2
RushingConnor Davidson 17-198-3, Eli Chapman 6-3, Lucas Persun 2-24
ReceivingAdam Kemp 2-37-1, Connor Garrison 1-25, Brendan Cooke 1-11
WYALUSING
PassingJohnny Earle 3-6-35-1-2, Isaac Shaffer 1-1-4-0-0
RushingAyden Hunsinger 36-179, Ethan Vanderpool 5-22, Johnny Earle 5-3, Reuben Kinney 5-(-2)-1, Isaac Shaffer 2-(-4), Team 1-(-7)
ReceivingReuben Kinney 1-31-1, James Rogan 2-15, Isaac Shaffer 1-3
Team Stats Athens WyalusingRushes/Yards 25/225 54/192
Passing Yards 73 39
First Downs 7 14
Penalties 4/41 8/42
Fumbles/Lost 1/0 2/2
Interceptions: Athens (Sean Peters, Caleb Nason), Wyalusing (Isaac Shaffer, Johnny Earle)
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