Sports
Nelsonville-York Beats Athens for Perfect Season and TVC-Ohio Title
By: Paul Roth
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The Nelsonville-York Buckeyes gutted out a 52-26 victory over the Athens Bulldogs in a thrilling game Friday night in Athens.
The game was filled with big plays on both sides of the ball. Five of the Buckeyes touchdowns came on plays of 40 plus yards, including a 94 yard touchdown pass by Maiden, and Nelsonville-York scored on the first play of a drive three times in the first half.
The Buckeyes got on the board first early as Garrett Maiden went 43 yards untouched on Nelsonville-York’s second play of the game.
Athens found nothing on their next drive but went only one play into the Buckeyes drive before they forced a fumble and took the ball right back
The Bulldogs would respond instantly, as on the first play Clay Davis found Treyce Albin on a fade into the right corner of the endzone for the touchdown. That play would prove to be the most effective for the Bulldogs who ran it twice more later in the first half and scored each time.
But after Athens made it 7-6, Keegan Wilburn returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown increasing the Buckeyes lead to seven points.
The two TVC-Ohio powerhouses traded punches, back and forth, throughout the first half, with the Bulldogs always chasing after the Buckeyes lead.
Athens finally caught up and tied the game at 26-26 on a Mikel Casteel 3-yard run and following 2-point conversion.
But that’s as close the Bulldogs would ever get as the Buckeyes would score once more in the first half before piling it on in the second as they ran away with it, 52-26.
Colt Yinger was the star of the night for the Buckeyes. The senior only needed is first 12 carries to top 200 yards and added 4 touchdowns for good measure.
Nelsonville-York clinched the TVC-Ohio championship with the win and will head into the playoffs with their first 10-0 regular season in 20 years. The Bulldogs fell to 8-2 and will miss the playoffs.
This battle was winner-take-all for the TVC-Ohio and Nelsonville-York’s win gave them a second consecutive conference championship.