Athens Football: This Week's Game Recap
Wednesday, November 26Wildcats lose semi-final
By Brian Fees
Sports Writer
ATHENS — The Wildcats knew what was at stake: a spot in the District 4, Class AA final and continuing their season by another week.
Athens also knew what the task was, getting past a Montoursville team that had rolled up Towanda 56-26 last weekend.
In order to win, the Wildcats knew they would have to slow down the potent Montoursville rushing game, but in the end, the Warriors rushing attack proved to be too much as Montoursville racked up 432 yards on the ground in a 42-7 victory.
"We didn’t do a great job of tackling them," Athens coach Jack Young said. "The part of the game I was really scared of was winning the battle to control the line of scrimmage and we didn’t do a great job with that, but we really didn’t tackle very well."
Montoursville took control of the game early as they came out and kept the ball on the ground, marching 80 yards over 6:55 and scoring on a 14-play drive when quarterback Travis Singer went in from a yard out and Wes Smith hit the extra point with 5:05 left in the opening quarter.
Montoursville’s two-headed rushing attack of Josh Cillo and Cody Haupt, who each gained over 1,000 yards on the ground this year, both shined on the drive. Cillo had seven carries for 47 yards and Haupt carried six times for 27 yards on the drive.
"This is a team that really scared me because they do so many things well," Montoursville coach Jim Bergen said. "The kids really stepped up tonight and played a good game."
Athens got the ball and went 3-and-out and after Shane Raupers hit a 39-yard punt, starting Montoursville at their own 47, the Warriors went back to work.
Singer broke off a 37-yard run and Cillo gained 17 yards on the next three carries, scoring on a 10-yard scamper with 1:11 left in the opening quarter. Smith hit the extra point and it was 14-0.
Athens fumbled on the next drive and Montoursville went to work again. Singer had another 37-yard run to move the ball to the Wildcats’ two and Pat McNamara capped the drive with a two-yard scoring run with 10:44 left in the half, with Smith hitting the extra point.
Athens got things going on the next drive as they recorded their first, first down of the game as Raupers hit Jarred Gambrell on a six-yard pass on second-and-six. Josiah Lesser had two runs for 14 yards and Raupers had three carries for 15 yards, with Garrett Morgan gaining eight yards on one carry on the drive.
The drive began to stall at the Montoursville 38 when Raupers was sacked. After a five-yard pass to Lesser an incomplete pass forced the Wildcats to punt, and Raupers punt into the wind traveled just nine yards, giving Montoursville the ball at the 27.
"The win definitely affected the game, especially the punts," Young said. "Shane had a couple of punts that got caught up in the wind and didn’t go very far."
Montoursville got an 11-yard run from Haupt, a 33-yard carry from Cillo and then Haupt found the endzone with 4:48 left in the half on a 29-yard run with Smith hitting the extra point.
Athens began to move the ball on their next drive as Gambrell hauled in a 11-yard pass to get the ball to the Athens 48, but a pair of incompletions ended the drive and the Wildcats were forced to punt.
Montoursville got a 38-yard run from Haupt on their next drive, but the drive ended with Smith missing a 37-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half.
The Warriors’ defense came out strong in the second half as McNamara got Raupers for an 11-yard sack on the first play of the half, and after a 17-yard punt into the wind, Montoursville went 33 yards on five carries, with Haupt gaining 28 on three carries and finding the endzone on a one-yard carry with 7:59 left in the half. Smith hit the extra point.
Athens went 3-and-out on their next drive and again Montoursville answered, going 58 yards on 7 plays, with Haupt getting a 20-yard run to start the drive and Cillo gaining 14, then scoring on a five-yard carry with 1:54 left in the quarter. Smith hit the extra point and it was 42-0.
"They stuffed eight or nine guys in the box on most plays, especially in the passing situations," Young said. "They really brought the house and we had trouble stopping them. We ran into a great football team today. They were just a better football team today."
Athens went 3-and-out on their next drive, but after a 3-and-out by Montoursville the Warriors got off just a 13-yard punt into the wind and the Wildcats took over at their own 47.
Raupers had trouble with the snap in the shotgun and after fumbling the ball, he picked it back up and found a wide-open Josh Clark downfield for a 37-yard gain to move inside the Montoursville 20 at the 14. After a two-yard run by Lesser and an incomplete pass, Raupers hit Dillin Rudloff, playing with one hand all bandaged up, who hauled in the ball with one hand on the 14-yard catch with 7:40 left to get the Wildcats on the board. Raupers hit the kick and it was 42-7.
Athens had another chance to score after Montoursville hit just a 20-yard punt into the wind, and a 30-yard run by Morgan got the ball to the Montoursville. However, a two-yard run by Raupers and three incomplete passes ended the drive and the game.
"The kids should be proud of what they accomplished; my hats off to them," Young said. "You get double-digit win season, you have something to be proud of."