Hornets have rough afternoon in Athens
By: Ed Weaver | NTL Sports | September 24, 2011
The Hornets had a rough afternoon on the grid iron as the lost to Athens, 44-7. Athens got off to a great start as Ray McDougan returned the opening kickoff 82 yards to put Athens ahead 7-0 only 15 seconds into the game. Athens then went to the air for their next two scores to go up 21-0 on Wellsboro at the end of the first half.
Wellsboro was able to mount a drive mid way throught the second quarter thanks to some nifty running by Junior Quarterback Ben Shaw and two personal fouls by Athens. Wellsboro drove down to the one-yard line before Sophomore Wyatt Covert scored. Senior Kicker Caleb Weiss kicked the extra point to make the score 21-7 Athens. The Wildcats would score once more before the end of the half to push the score to 28-7.
The second half was all Athens, as they were able to mount time consuming offensive drives and limited Wellsboro to only 14 second-half plays. Ben Shaw led the Hornet ground game as he tallied 8 carries for 30 yards. Senior Thomas Johnston, who only played the second half of today's game, rushed for 26 yards on 8 carries with Covert contributing 22 yards on 9 carries. Junior Receiver Konnor Spencer was the leading receiver, pulling in one of Shaw's passes for 12 yards.
With the loss, Wellsboro falls to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the NTL Large School Division (Cowanesque is in the Small School Division for 2011). Wellsboro will be back in action next Friday night, September 30 as they travel to South Williamsport to face the Mounties. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
Ed Weaver is the owner of Circle W Sports in Wellsboro, PA, is the Sports Director for The Home Page Network and the creator of WellsboroAthletics.com and WellsboroFootball.com. You can follow him on Twitter or friend him on Facebook.
