By TIM TAYLORValley Sports Report
ATHENS — Athens rode its experience and depth to another Rusty Rail victory Saturday evening, defeating Sayre, 70-12, in the annual clash between the neighboring rivals.
Despite the lopsided setback, Sayre coach Guy Kapichok had nothing but praise for his players.
“We came in with 16 (players), I think we ended with 12 maybe, so I'm proud of them,” he said. “I wouldn't trade these guys. I said that the first game, I say it now. I wouldn't trade these guys, and we’re talking about men, like these guys turned into men.”
Athens coach Shane Bradley commended the Redskins on their effort against his team which has a much larger roster, including 11 more seniors.
“The Sayre kids, they played hard,” he said. “There were some good plays, you know. Hudson ran the ball hard, they blocked well. Hats off to those boys. They're under different circumstances than we are. We have a lot of seniors, but you see these kids out here and they're at the end of the game shaking hands right now, so that's good. These kids, they're friends, they know each other, they've grown up playing football and other sports together, so it's a good game.
The Redskins moved the ball out near midfield on their opening drive before sputtering and Athens took just four plays to march 53 yards to paydirt.
Brendan Cooke took the ball down to the Sayre 27 on three runs, then Connor Davidson cut through the defense on a 27-yard quarterback keeper for the game’s first points with 7:08 on the clock. Zach Fisher split the uprights with the first of his 10 PAT kicks for a 7-0 lead.
Sayre stumbled on its next drive following a pair of false start penalties and the Wildcats went 39 yards in four plays with Cooke scoring from 5 yards out at 3:43.
The Redskins turned the ball over on downs at their own 26 on the ensuing possession and Davidson connected with Kade Rowe on the next play and Fisher’s kick gave Athens a 21-0 advantage with 64 ticks left on the first quarter clock.
Sayre punted on the first possession of the second period and Athens took over at midfield. Davidson completed four passes to four different receivers with Aiden Vanderpool outjumping a defender in the end zone for a 17-yard TD reception as the Wildcats went up, 28-0.
The Athens defense stole the spotlight on the next series as Nolan Raupers came away with a 35-yard pick six and the Wildcats built a 35-0 cushion with 8:24 remaining in the half.
The Wildcats would tack one more TD before intermission as Davidson scored on a 42-yard keeper with 3:42 on the scoreboard, giving the home team a 42-0 advantage.
Cooke toted the rock five times for 55 yards to start the second half, scoring on a 2-yard run at 5:17 to extend the lead to 49-0.
On the next series, Hudson Malanoski carried the load, marching 69 yards on eight rushes and tallying on a 1-yard plunge with 13 seconds to go in the third quarter. The PAT kick failed, making the score 49-6.
The Wildcats moved their senior offensive linemen into the backfield and Trig Noel, Landon Layman and Brady Flynn covered 55 yards on five runs with Flynn scoring from seven yards out at 6:01 and Athens went up, 56-6.
Sayre punted to the Athens 49 on its next possession and senior tight end Dominic Robbins took his turn carrying the pigskin, picking up 47 yards before scoring on a 4-yard run with 2:21 left in the game and making it 63-6 on another Fisher kick.
The Redskins’ next possession resulted in a three-play 81-yard drive with Riley Johnson capping it with a 32-yard run. The PAT kick failed, making the score 63-6.
Athens’ Gage Marmor returned the ensuing kickoff 67 yards for a TD with 40 seconds to go and Fisher’s foot made it a 70-12 final.
Bradley was pleased with the efforts of the Wildcats and how they responded following a much-too-close-for-comfort 9-0 win over Muncy a week earlier.
“Last week, it was kind of rough,” he said. “Our offense didn't play as well. Maybe the offensive coaches, being me, didn't coach as well.
“I was kind of hard on our offensive line this week and I think they responded. Those kids worked their butts off and they carried us. They carried us this game and they carried us the whole season. We have a good group of kids and I'm excited to see what they do here in the playoffs.”
The Wildcats chalked up 411 yards offense to Sayre’s 218.
Cooke carried the ball 11 times for 132 yards. Davidson had four rushes for 67 yards and Robbins added two for 51 more. Also contributing were Flynn (3-32) , Noel (1-13) and Layman (1-10).
Davidson was 8-for-9 for 106 yards through the air with Rowe making three receptions for 39 yards and Marmor grabbing a pair for 20 more. Vanderpool, Cooke and Lucas Persun caught one pass each for 17, 12 and 11 yards, respectively.
Malanoski was a workhorse for the Redskins, hauling the ball 28 times for 194 yards. Johnson had four rushes for 38 yards. Sayre did not have any passing yards.
The Redskins finish the season with a 2-8 record while Athens (9-1) awaits its postseason opponent.
Sayre’s small roster has just a few seniors, a plus for Kapichok as the Redskins look toward next year.
“We're releasing three seniors that endured so much, and there's three of them left out of a big class when they first started in pee wees, and here we are battling, and hopefully we got Hudson 1,000 yards. We were trying to get that at the end.”
Reliability has been key for a roster barely half the size of that of Athens.
“We were just saying, I don't know anything else, but if you need anything done, you call the Sayre Redskins, we'll show up and do it,” Kapichok said. “So we could have played on Tuesday and we would have been fine. So these guys just show up every time we ask them to, and I'm proud of them.”
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PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON & TIM TAYLOR.
