Sports
Athens Scores 70 In Opening Half, Tops River Valley [VIDEO]
By: Sean Neidig
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Grass is green, the sky is blue, and the Athens Bulldogs offense cannot be stopped.
On a night when 22 Athens seniors were being recognized on their home field for possibly the last time, the Bulldogs were up to their usual tricks, dominating the River Valley Raiders, 77-14.
Coming into this game, there was doubt that Burrow would play at all due to a knee injury he sustained last week, but he did start and came out guns blazing.
On the very first play of the game, Burrow connected with Ryan Luehrman for a 65-yard touchdown, which would foreshadow the rest of the night.
Burrow played in the first nine drives of the game, all of which resulted touchdowns. Burrow threw for 257 yards on 11 attempts, completing eight, six of which were for touchdowns.
Luerhman caught three of those scores, finishing with 118 yards on three receptions. Zacciah Saltzman caught an additional two scores and senior Adam Luerhman caught Burrow’s sixth touchdown toss.
Running back Trae Williams also made a splash on the ground, running all over the Raider defense to the tune of 208 yards and three touchdowns.
As a team, the Bulldogs had 586 yards of offense and held River Valley to only 179 yards, the majority of which came in the second half against Athens back-ups. At halftime, Athens led 70-7.
Among Athens’s drives in the first half, two concluded after only one play, one finished after two plays and two took three plays.
The Bulldogs are currently fifth in the division III, region IX playoffs and are not guaranteed a home playoff game, so Friday’s game may have been the final time that the winningest senior class in school history would take the field in front of its home fans.
The seniors left the field with about five minutes left in the second quarter to a standing ovation, with the Bulldogs holding a 63-0 lead.
And with their huge nights, Burrow, Luerhman and Williams all continued their historic runs through the OHSAA record books. Burrow’s 131 career passing touchdowns are fourth in state history, eight behind taking over the No. 3 spot. Williams’ brought his number of total touchdowns to 84, good for No. 11 in Ohio history. Luerhman’s 41 receiving touchdowns have put him into a tie for sixth place on the all-time list.
The Bulldogs will travel to Nelsonville-York next week to take on the Buckeyes in a clash that will decide the winner of the TVC-Ohio.