Observations from an Athens homecoming win over Wills Point
By Michael V. Hannigan
The Athens Hornets completed the first portion of their 2020 schedule in perfect fashion Friday night, beating Wills Point for homecoming, 62-21. Now the 4-0 Hornets turn their attention to district play.
Before we get there, here are some observations from against Wills Point.
-- First of all, congratulations to this year’s Homecoming Court.
-- Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Hornets' special teams are a real weapon. Against Wills Point, Athens scored two touchdowns in the kicking game.
-- Recovering a fumble while covering a kickoff is a huge play and a team can go a full season without it happening. Well, the same player has done it in back-to-back games now for Athens, and this week Drew Horn even scored with his fumble recovery.
-- Another big night running the ball in a career of big nights for Nathan Sims. He had 122 yards and four touchdowns on just 10 carries. His big runs were of 42 and 35 yards.
-- Speaking of big night's, sophomore Zay Hull was a bit of a workhorse against Wills Point. He had 13 carries for 63 yards and two catches for 14 more. His big play, however, was a kickoff return for a touchdown.
-- Teams might want to rethink trying onside kicks against the Hornets. It has been attempted multiple times already this season, but Athens has always recovered. Friday night it was senior Reed Allen protecting the ball.
-- Nice 40-yard dash time for Coach Zac Harrell. After a big run by Ty Arroyo, Harrell sprinted down the sideline to call a timeout with just :02 seconds before the half. Nice effort by the coach.
-- Hornet announcer -- and school board member -- Eugene Buford called the Athens band "a ray of sunshine" Friday night. Got to love that.
-- After more than 25 years, I thought I'd seen it all while covering football. Nope. I was working in the press box next to Tim and TJ Howard when I heard a random voice behind me ask, "Hey, can I leave these here?" TJ said OK and then I heard something fall to the ground next to my bag. I looked and saw a large pair of shower shoes. They were still there when I packed up and left after the game.
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