Big plays help Athens burn Warren Mott
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
WARREN — The line between winning and losing in football can often go down to big plays. Troy Athens had several of them Thursday night in its season opener at Warren Mott.
The Red Hawks twice stalled the Marauders inside the red zone on two long drives in the second half and also picked up a game-breaking 96-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to aid a 29-14 victory over Mott in an OAA-MAC crossover.
“I thought that we were just conditioned and we were just stronger,” said Athens coach Josh Heppner. “I think that our work in the off season paid off.”
Athens (1-0) led19-7 at the half and saw the Marauders claw back to within 19-14 with 7:34 left in the third stanza on a 2-yard scamper from quarterback Lucas Ross. That was the last time Mott would score — but not threaten.
On their next possession, the Marauders drove down inside the Athens 20 before the Red Hawks’ Brandon Neal picked off Ross at the 3-yard-line.
Athens responded by putting together a 16-play, 93-yard drive which was capped with a 25-yard field goal by Jake Spinek to push the lead to 22-14 with 8:04 left. The drive was aided by a roughing the punter penalty on fourth-and-four back at the Red Hawks’ 13-yard-line.
NO ROOM TO GO: Warren Mott's Nate Mosher (right in swarmed by Troy Athens' Lonnie Bolden (left) and Lonnie Jaynes.
“Our linebackers were struggling all day, but they finally started getting depth and their hands up and we were able to get that huge pick to seal it for us,” offered Heppner on Neal’s interception. “We did a great job (defensively). We still got to remain disciplined with our attack. Our defensive ends have to keep them out for a reason. They ran the same zone play on us all day. We still have to lock that down.”
Mott again drove down to the Red Hawks’ 4-yard-line with 4:24 left and on a fourth-and-four play, Athens’ Kento Mori stopped Mott’s Jamel Lockett cold at the 2-yard line to stall the drive.
Athens put the nail in the coffin just three plays later, when Lonnie Bolden raced around right for a 96-yard TD sprint with 2:24 left to cap the scoring and lift the Red Hawks to a second straight season-opening win over Mott.
Heppner was quick to remind his team not to rest on its laurels and Week 1 triumph.
“Traditionally, we’ve come out the past three years and Game 1 we got the win, then we took the next three weeks off. We just cannot do that again,” said Heppner. “I want them to cherish this for 12 hours, then come back at 9 a.m. and it’s all about (Week 2 opponent) Pontiac.”
Mott was left with a case of missed opportunities.
“We had our chances but we weren’t able to capitalize on them,” offered Mott coach Tom Milanov. “We had some nice drives and they were able to stop us on them. I thought the interception was a big play. We also turned it over on downs. We score on either of those (drives), then who knows what might have happened.”
Mott marched the opening drive down the field, which Lockett capped the 13-play, 73-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown sprint down the right side.
THE SLIP: Troy Athens quarterback Ben Bartnowak hands the ballof to Lonnie Bolden during the Red Hawks' 29-14 triumph over Warren Mott.
Athens matched that score with an 11-play orchestration, which lasted 65 yards and ended with Lonnie Jaynes, a transfer from Rochester Adams, scoring on a 1-yard plunge with 2:10 left in the second quarter.
Athens scored on two more drives in the second quarter, the first ending on a 7-yard run by Kris Gervin, where the kick failed leaving the score at 13-7. The other second-quarter scoring drive resulted with Sam Haskell diving over the top from two yards out. This time the pass failed.
After finishing a dismal 3-6 and falling far short of expectations last season, Athens is trying to right the ship. The Red Hawks defeated the Marauders, 31-19, in last season’s opener in Troy, but lost three straight after that point. In 2009, Athens also started 1-3.
“We have to be more strict with our rules, more strict with our practices and everything has to be up tempo,” offered Heppner. “This is our third year (as a coaching staff) and I think by now we should start seeing some results.”
Bolden ended the night with 10 carries for 137 yards. Quarterback Ben Bartnowak added 12 carries for 92 yards, Gervin, a transfer from Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, chipped in seven rushes for 54 yards and Jaynes provided 53 yards on 12 carries.
ON THE LOOSE: Troy Athens' Kris Gervin tries to getpast Warren Mott's Damiquel Williams.
“There was a lot of guys that saw some reps. We still have some new guys who are trying to learn the system,” said Heppner. “We had a few mistakes in there. But we want to keep our guys as fresh as possible. I think we’ve been doing that. We saw Lonnie Bolden take that thing 96 yards to the house. That’s just one great play and I think that’s us having fresh legs in the backfield.”
Matt Fitzpatrick and Jaynes each supplied nine solo tackles, Tony Shayoka provided two sacks and both Neal and Joe Shields had an interception apiece for the Red Hawks.
Lockett provided 82 yards on 16 carries for Mott. Ross finished 16-for-25 passing for 191 yards and two interceptions, while Nate Mosher had 96 receiving yards on seven catches for the Marauders. Shane Strawska was in on 15 tackles and both Lockett and Line had interceptions for Mott.
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Category: High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps, Troy Athens
