Athens rallies past West Bloomfield
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
TROY — Troy Athens has found many different ways to win football games this season. Friday’s effort was in the come-from-behind fashion.
The Red Hawks rallied back from a 10-7 halftime deficit to sink visiting West Bloomfield 27-17 in an OAA Red Division football contest.
Played in frigid temperatures and steady rain, Athens (5-1, 4-1) iced its first winning season in seven years and moved the Red Hawks to within one win from earning a Division 1 postseason berth, which would be the school’s first since 2004.
The victory also kept Athens in the upper echelon of the OAA-Red, as the Red Hawks remained in a second-place tie with Clarkston and one game behind league-leader Lake Orion with two league games to play.
“We had an exciting comeback win tonight,” offered Athens third-year head coach Josh Heppner. “Our defense had a tough time stopping the run in the first half, but they came up huge late in the third (quarter) and all through the fourth (frame).”
Corey Genrich’s 29-yard field goal with 16 seconds left in the second quarter gave West Bloomfield (2-4, 1-4) a 10-7 lead. The Lakers opened up a 10-point lead in the third quarter with another scoring drive, this time with Matt Farrow running in a 15-yard sprint with 10:01 to play in the frame.
Athens responded by scoring three unanswered touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters to keep the Red Hawks’ playoff hopes alive. With Kris Gervin back in the lineup to aid the backfield, the Red Hawks closed out with a 20-0 run over the final 16 minutes.
Gervin scored on a 5-yard plunge with 3:42 to play in the third quarter to cut the deficit down to 17-14.
Sam Haskell scored the final two TDs. The first came with 1:57 left in the contest on a 10-yard run. The second came following a turnover, which resulted in an 11-yard touchdown run with only six seconds left in the game to complete the comeback.
“Offensively, we did a nice job executing,” said Heppner. “It was nice to have the Lonnie Bolden, Lonnie Jaynes, Kris Gervin, Ben Bartnowak and Sam Haskell dominating the backfield. Our offensive line played very well tonight. I’m proud of the big fellas. This was another nice win for the program.”
Joe Campbell staked West Bloomfield to the early with a 6-yard TD run, which capped a long 15-play, 72-yard, clock-eating drive that took 8:54 off the clock.
Athens responded with a 69-yard drive and scored with 3:06 left in the second period, this time with Lonnie Jaynes plunging in from 2-yards out to tie the contest. Sandy Mouch nailed the point-after-attempt and was 3-for-4 splitting the uprights on extra points on the night in the rain.
Jaynes led Athens with 84 yards on 11 carries. Gervin chipped in with 78 yards on seven rushes and Bolden followed with 14 carries for 69 yards. Athens had 297 rushing yards.
Brandon Terry led the Athens defends with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery. Brandon Neal added seven tackles and both Jaynes and Kento Mori followed with six tackles apiece for the Red Hawks.
Farrow led West Bloomfield with 103 yards on 17 carries, while C.J. Brathwaite added 75 yards on 11 carries and Campbell picked up 53 yards on 12 rushes. The Lakers collected 243 yards of total offense on the night.
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Category: High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps, Troy Athens
