Athens scares Lindale before falling, 35-16
By Michael V. Hannigan
When you are short handed and playing a dominant team, you have to be perfect to win.
Unfortunately, the Hornets were not perfect Friday night and dropped their game against Lindale, 35-16. But they were tough, resilient and bold enough to scare the Eagles for two and a half quarters.
The Hornets led 16-14 at the half but couldn’t hold on as Lindale put up 21 unanswered points in the second half.
Athens (4-3, 0-3) jumped on top of Lindale (6-2, 4-0) courtesy of an Eagle safety on the first offensive play of the game. They extended that lead to 9-0 on a perfectly executed hook-and-lateral. Ty Arroyo hit Jarred Duff on the sideline, and Duff pitched to Dylan Marshall, who went 48 yards for the score.
That drive started after Duff wrestled the ball away from Lindale running back Jordan Jenkins for a turnover.
Even Lindale’s first TD looked like it was going to go Athens’ way. The Eagles threw a deep pass that looked like it was going to be intercepted by the Hornets, but instead the ball bounced into the air and into the waiting arms of the Lindale receiver, who ran 62 yards to the end zone.
Athens took advantage of another takeaway later in the half. After Gage Friedrich recovered a fumble, Cedric Lowe took a swing pass from Arroyo 42 yards for a touchdown.
The most important statistic of the half for the Hornets was time of possession. Through good defense and smart clock management on offense, the Hornets were able to limit Lindale to just under 6:00 of offense in the first half.
It looked like Athens was going to keep things going in the second half when the Hornets took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and drove 62 yards to the Lindale 13. But an interception which was returned 92 yards for a touchdown swung the momentum of the game.
Lindale took advantage of a short field on its next possession and scored in two plays to go up 28-16. After that, the Eagle defense was able to get aggressive and blitz continually, causing problems for the Hornets.
But for two and a half quarters, it looked like Athens was going to pull off the upset of the season.
Athens will be on the road in Palestine next week to take on the Wildcats, who beat Henderson Friday night, 17-8.
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