Hornets' 2nd Half Rally Falls Short To Athens

By: Ed Weaver  /  September 28, 2024  /  Photo: Nick Coyle

Trailing 21-0 entering the second half of Friday's Varsity football with Athens, Wellsboro scored a pair of touchdowns but couldn't completely dig themselves out of the hole in a 21-13 loss to the Wildcats.

On their first possession of the second half following an interception by junior Marek Mascho the Hornets took over at their own 41. Runs by senior Ryder Bowen and freshman Griffin Morral quickly moved the ball into Wildcat territory. Eventually the Hornets moved down inside the Athens' red zone where Morral connected with junior Jonathan Carl from 19 yards out. Carl's extra point split the uprights, cutting the Wildcats' lead down to 21-7 with 4:39 remaining in the third quarter.

Wellsboro's defense held Athens on 4th down on their ensuing drive and took back over at their own 37-yard line. Aided by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that moved the ball into the Wildcats' side of the field, Morral and Carl connected for the second time of the evening on a 40-yard pass. Athens blocked the following extra point, leaving the score at 21-13 just nine seconds into the final frame.

The Hornets had their chances, forcing and recovering a fumble on the Wildcats' next drive, and holding Athens on downs midway through the quarter, however the Wellsboro offense was forced to punt on both of their fourth quarter drives after their final touchdown. After the Hornets' last punt Athens controlled the ball for the final 5:32 to run out the clock. Wellsboro had Athens facing multiple third downs on their last drive, but QB Connor Davidson converted both times on long runs to keep the drive alive.

Jumping back to the first half, the Wildcats found the end zone on their second drive after a scoreless first quarter. The Wildcats put together a 12-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in a 9-yard pass from Davidson to Gage Marmor to give the Wildcats the 7-0 lead with 4:33 left in the half. A Hornet turnover led to seven more Wildcat points as Davidson called his own number from 5 yards out. With just over 90 seconds left in the half the Wildcats had a 14-0 lead.

Athens added one more score late in the half on a Wellsboro special teams miscue. Facing a 4th-and-6 from their own 29, following a timeout, the Wildcats blocked a Wellsboro punt. Keegan Congdon recovered it for the Wildcats and returned it to the end zone to give Athens a 21-0 advantage over Wellsboro at the half.

"I'm second guessing myself here a little bit," head coach Matt Hildebrand said. "We called a timeout in hopes of saving a little time, maybe get the ball back. I'm kicking myself right now. We should've gotten out of the half and regrouped at halftime. That really hurt us. I'm taking the brunt of this but we have to get off the bus. That's the other part of it.

"This game was a tale of two football teams right there," continued Hildebrand. "The first half team was not the team we've played with the last two weeks. I think we proved that in the second half. We play shut out football on defense, go and score two touchdowns, and we let another opportunity that we didn't capitalize on. We had the opportunity to tie the ball game early in the 4th quarter. It stings but we have to learn from it and move forward."

Davidson completed 12-of-16 passes for 111 yards and also rushed for 138 yards on 19 carries. Gage Marmor led the Wildcat receiving corps with 2 catches for 40 yards.

Morral threw for 129 yards and completed 13-of-20 passes. Bowen carried the ball 14 times for 32 yards and Morral also rushed 8 times for 28 yards. Mascho hauled in a game-high 7 passes for 54 yards while Carl had 59 yards receiving and 2 scores.

Bowen led the Hornets with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery. Freshman Kody Enck made 7 tackles, sophomore Levi Champaign added 5 stops, and Mascho made 4 tackles and had an interception. Junior Jayden Dumm also added 4 tackles and had a sack.

Wellsboro falls to 1-5 (1-4 NTL Large School Division) on the year. They host the undefeated Troy Trojans on Friday.

Athens improves to 3-3 overall (3-3 NTL Large School Division). The Wildcats host Towanda next Saturday.