‘Canes Lose To Athens Academy
The ‘Canes suffered their second defeat of the young season last Friday at the hands of the Athens Academy Spartans 28-0, making their season-to-date record 1-2.
It appeared the ‘Canes were going to make a game of it after they took the opening kick-off and made a sustained drive down field, but then their old nemesis—turnovers—came in the form of an interception.
Then it was the ‘Cane’s defensive turn on the field as the Spartans took over on offense and ate up a good portion of the first quarter as they passed and drove to the 13 yard line where it was third and seven when Justin Brown stopped a receiver for no gain and made it fourth down.
The Spartan’s ensuing 30 yard field goal attempt was wide and the ‘Canes took over on offense again with still no score in the game and only two minutes left in the first quarter.
Two key passes from Quarterback Markese Thurman to Octavious Epps and Caleb Reynolds took them to midfield before their second drive stalled and they had to punt.
The Spartan’s began their second drive of the first half at their own 22, and after several first downs, had to punt from the ‘Canes 37 yard line. It was after this punt when a confusing situation took place on the field.
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At first it appeared that the Spartan punt had gone into the end zone, and one official did take the ball and place it on the 20 yard line, only to be overruled by another official who ruled that the ball had been downed on the one-foot line.
The ‘Canes lined up on offense in this vulnerable position only to be called for an offsides penalty, which pushed the ball one-half of the distance to the goal line—on the six-inch line. A unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on one of the coaches upset about the ball placement followed, pushing the ball back to the three-inch line.
The ‘Canes managed to get the ball out to the five yard line and gave their punter a little breathing room, but a good runback by the Spartan receiver and they were back on the ‘Canes 25 yard line, threatening again with less than three minutes left in the first half.
The Spartan’s threat turned into reality this time when they completed a seven yard pass for a touchdown and converted on the extra point attempt with less than a minute left in the first half, which ended with Athens Academy leading 7-0.
The disputed ball placement call by the officials seemed to have been the turning point in the game. Not only did it give the Spartan’s excellent field position, which they capitalized on, but it also seemed to swing the momentum in their direction.
The second half seemed to confirm that as the Spartans came out and scored on their first possession to make the score 14-0, and again on their next drive, and the score was suddenly 21-0 just before the end of the third quarter.
Another pass interception by the Spartans led to yet another score making it 28-0 with less than two minutes left on the game clock.
Head Coach and Athletic Director Doug Huff summed it up by saying, “We just didn’t play very well offensively or defensively. On offense we took the opening kick off and marched the ball down to their 42 where we converted a fourth and two into a first down, and then we threw an interception. I believe if we had taken it on down and stuck it in right there it might have changed the complexion of the game.
“We just busted too many blocking assignments, we didn’t take care of the football and had three more turnovers.
“On defense we missed tackles, and weren’t lining up timely and properly. But they were a very disciplined team and also played hard. When you go some where and play a team like that you have to play your best, and we just didn’t do that.”
The ‘Canes have a bye week this week before playing their first region game at Hancock Central in Sparta, next Friday, Sept. 29.
During the off week Coach Huff emphasized that the team would be working on blocking and tackling. He also said, “We’ve got two weeks to get ready for them and we’ll need it because they have some great athletes over there.”
The team statistics for last week’s game are as follows:
SCORING
Monticello 0 0 0 0 0
Athens 0 7 14 7 28
RUSHING
Markese Thurman—12 for 85 yards
Darvius Colvard—10 for 39 yards
Brad Lynch—1 for 6 yards
Kadarius Foster—2 for 23 yards
Justin Brown—2 for 6 yards
PASSING
Markese Thurman—11/18 for 106 yards
RECEIVING
Justin Brown-4 for 35 yards
Ra’Shead Pompey-1 for 5 yards
Octavious Epps-2 for 24 yards
Brad Lynch-1 for 1 yard
Caleb Reynolds-2 for 34 yards
TACKLES
MacArthur Martin-2 T, 5 A
Brad Lynch-3 T, 2 A
Justin Brown-5 T, 2 A
Vincent Lindsey-2 T, 2 A
REGION 7-A STANDINGS
Twiggs County 1-0 1-2
Hancock Central 1-0 1-0-1
Lincoln County 0-0 2-1
Monticello 0-0 1-2
Wilkinson County 0-0 1-2
Warren County 0-0 0-2
Aquinas 0-0 0-3
GMC 0-1 1-2