Athens Nipped by Rusk, 45-42
Eagles hit field goal with 6 seconds left for the win
By Michael V. Hannigan
RUSK -- The Athens Hornets looked like a playoff team for 40 minutes Friday night. Unfortunately, football games are 48 minutes long.
The Rusk Eagles outscored the Hornets 17-0 in the final 8 minutes Friday for a 45-42 come-from-behind win to stay undefeated at 3-0. Athens dropped to 2-1 on the year.
"We've got to do a better job of responding to a little adversity," Coach Zac Harrell said. "When you play good people there's going to be adversity."
Adversity was the theme of the second half for the Hornets.
With starting QB Ty Arroyo banged up and on the bench in the second half, Athens turned to Jaxson Stiles to lead a ground-and-pound attack and the junior did an admirable job.
"Jaxson did a great job," Coach Harrell said. "We moved the ball with Jaxson in at quarterback, but we just turned it over."
Stiles scored two rushing touchdowns, the second coming on a 1-yard run after a blocked punt and recovery by Logan Schwering. That touchdown gave Athens a 42-28 lead with a little more than 8 minutes left in the game.
But that's when the mistakes crept in for the Hornets.
First, a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty jump started a drive for the Eagles, which ended in a 16-yard TD pass from Aiden McCown to Brailen Trawick to cut the score to 42-35.
Then, less than a minute later, an Athens fumble gave Rusk the ball in Hornet territory. This time McCown hit Alan Rojo for a 10-yard touchdown to tie it up at 42-42 with 3:15 left.
The Hornets next possession stalled with less than a minute left in regulation and Athens looked to punt. But Ty Arroyo, who was still doing the punting, saw some space and tried to run for a first down.
He didn't make it, giving Rusk the ball in Athens territory once again.
The Hornets had a chance to stop the Eagles' final drive and send the game to overtime, but dropped an interception at the goal line setting up a 30-yard field goal by Alan Rojo.
The go-ahead score with just 6 seconds remaining was Rusk's only lead of the game.
The Hornets will look to get back in the win column next Friday when they welcome Kaufman into Bruce Field for homecoming.
DID YOU NOTICE
-- The Athens offense was unstoppable in the first half - literally. The Hornets scored TDs on four of their five possessions. The only one they didn't score on was the when they got the ball with 1 minute left in the half deep in their own end and chose to run out the clock.
-- The Hornets had a dominating rushing attack Friday night. Jamauri Manning had 122 yards and three TDs on 13 carries. Ty Arroyo went for 119 yards and a TD on 14 carries. Jaxson Stiles picked up 50 yards and two TDs on 12 carries.
-- Athens was able to pressure the Rusk QB for much of the night and racked up sacks by Hunter White, Zay Hull, Jaxson Stiles, and Cody McMichael.
-- Jorien Ray had a big interception in the third quarter to stop a Rusk drive.
-- While the Hornets did most of their damage on the ground they did hit some big pass plays in the first half. Ty Arroyo connected with Jaden Crane on a 44-yard pass play, D'Alessandro Soto for 43 yards, and Eli Perkins for 27 yards.
SCORING SUMMARY
ATHENS, 8:21 1Q - Jamauri Manning 12-yard run. Nico Castaneda kick. -- 7-0
RUSK, 5:27 1Q - Brailen Trawick 47-yard pass from Aiden McCown. Alan Rojo kick. -- 7-7
ATHENS, 3:08 1Q - Jamauri Manning 1-yard run. Nico Castaneda kick. -- 14-7
RUSK, 11:51 2Q - Brailen Trawick 25-yard pass from Aiden McCown. Alan Rojo kick. -- 14-14
ATHENS, 9:27 2Q - Ty Arroyo 15-yard run. Nico Castaneda kick. -- 21-14
ATHENS, 3:14 2Q - Jamauri Mannigan 1-yard run. Nico Castaneda kick. -- 28-14
RUSK, 5:36 3Q - Brailen Trawick 69-yard pass from Aiden McCown. Alan Rojo kick. -- 28-21
ATHENS, 1:15 3Q - Jaxson Stiles 5-yard run. Nico Castaneda kick. -- 35-21
RUSK, 0:283Q - Aiden McCown 1-yard run. Alan Rojo kick. -- 35-28
ATHENS, 8:22 4Q - Jaxson Stiles 1-yard run. Nico Castandeda kick. -- 42-28
RUSK, 5:48 4Q - Brailen Trawick 2-yard pass from Aiden McCown. Alan Rojo kick. -- 42-35
RUSK, 3:15 4Q - Alan Rojo 29-yard pass from Aiden McCown. Alan Rojo kick. -- 42-42
RUSK, 0:06 4Q - Alan Rojo 30-yard field goal -- 45-42
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