Valley Sports ReportATHENS — The Athens defense allowed just 58 yards in total offense, and senior QB Connor Davidson accounted for five TDs in the Wildcats' 44-0 win over Wellsboro here Friday night in NTL Large School football action at Alumni Stadium.
"The defense has been playing awesome all year," said Athens coach Shawn Bradley. "Coach Satterly, coach Yeager and (coach) Nick (Bradley) have done a fantastic job with those kids, they are flying to the football.
"They're getting better every week, and they've saved our bacon a couple times this year.
"It was good to see the shutout," added Bradley.
Wellsboro managed just 17 rushing yards on 24 carries, and threw for 41 yards. Athens had a 22-6 advantage in first downs.
Connor Davidson completed 11 of 17 passes for 148 yards, and two TDs. He also rushed for 75 yards and three TDs on 13 carries.
"Connor (Davidson) is maturing, he's managing the game, instead of trying to do everything himself," said Bradley.
"Brendan (Cooke) ran the ball hard, he's a big, strong guy," noted Bradley. "It's hard to key on Connor if we get contributions from other guys.
"(Davidson) did a good job of spreading the ball around, and everyone is feeling good about making a contribution," he added.
Cooke rushed for 58 yards on seven carries, and Nolan Raupers added 45 yards on seven carries.
Junior Kade Rowe led Athens receivers with 112 yards on six catches, while senior Gage Marmor had three receptions for 34 yards, senior Lucas Person had three catches for 20 yards and one TD, and senior Dom Robbins had two grabs for 36 yards and one TD.
Wellsboro opened the game with the ball and gained 27 yards on the ground in its first four plays, but put the ball on the ground twice in the next three plays, and punted, facing a 4th-and-25 at its own 32.
The Wildcats took over at their own 40, and march 60 yards on eight plays to take an early lead.
Cooke started the drive with a 9-yard run, and Connor Davidson completed passes of 22 and 9 yards to Rowe to set up his 5-yard TD run with 3:35 remaining in the first quarter. Senior Zach Fisher's PAT kick made it 7-0.
After a Hornet three-and-out, the Wildcats took over at the Wellsboro 46 following a 19-yard punt.
Aided by a 15-yard face mask penalty, Athens increased its lead with a four-play drive, capped by Connor Davidson's 14-yard TD pass to Robbins on the first play of the second quarter. Fisher's kick made it 14-0.
After an exchange of punts, Wellsboro was forced to punt again midway through the second quarter.
The Wildcats drove 80 yards on nine plays, benefitting from a pair of 15-yard face mask flags against the Hornets.
The key play in the drive was an 18-yard pass from sophomore Shea Davidson to Marmor on third-and-22. Athens picked up a first down on the second Wellsboro face mask penalty.
Moments later, Rowe hauled down a 30-yard reception from Shea Davidson, who hit Persun with a 6-yard TD pass to make it 21-0 with 3:11 remaining in the half.
After a quick three-and-out, Connor Davidson returned Max Mascho's 39-yard punt 15 yards to the Wellsboro 46.
After another Wellsboro personal foul moved the ball to the 26, Connor Davidson connected with Robbins on a 22-yard completion, then scored on a 4-yard TD with 53 seconds left in the first half. Fisher's kick made it 28-0 at the half.
Athens took the second-half kickoff and marched 56 yards on five plays. Connor Davidson's runs of 19 and 13 yards set up his 21-yard TD pass to Rowe with 9:47 remaining in the third quarter to make it 34-0.
After forcing Wellsboro into another three-and-out, Mascho's 67-yard punt pinned the Wildcats at their own 1. Athens marched 99 yards on 11 plays to increase their lead.
Connor Davidson picked up 31 yards on three carries in the possession, including a 5-yard TD with with 2:49 remaining in the third quarter, and also completed passes of 21 yards to Rowe and 11 to Marmor.
The biggest play on the drive was a 32-yard run by Cooke to the Hornet 5 to set up Davidson's TD run. Fisher's PAT kick made it 41.
Fisher tacked on the final points of the game with a 31-yard field goal with 3:31 remaining in the contest.
"Zach (Fisher) is a stud, he's a weapon," said Bradley. "If we can get to the 30-yard line or thereabouts, we have a good chance to score points, and that's huge, especially in big games."
Back-up QB Shea Davidson saw meaningful time in the first half Friday. He completed 4 of 6 passes for 59 yards and one TD.
"Shea comes in the game, and we can put Connor in other positions, so (Wellsboro) can't really focus on what he's doing," said Bradley. "They did, though, and Shea drove us down the field and threw a touchdown pass.
"Shea is a very capable and very talented quarterback," added Bradley. "It's good we have that. We move Connor around and the defense has to account for that."
Athens, now 5-1, returns to action Friday when it hosts winless North Penn-Mansfield.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens junior Kade Rowe. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens senior Connor Davidson. ... PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.
