A football revival
Perfect Spartans travel to The Plains to take on undefeated Bulldogs in titanic TVC and Athens County contest
By JASON ARKLEY
Messenger staff writer
Published: Friday, October 2, 2009 9:22 AM EDT
There’s at least one person in Athens County who hasn’t heard much of the hullabaloo surrounding tonight’s high school football clash at Basil Rutter Field at Athens High School — Alexander head coach Sean Arno.
“You really mean there are people talking about this game?†Arno asked in a straight tone.
But coach, aren’t people wishing you good luck and asking about the big game when you go to the gas station or the grocery store or wherever?
“Not really,†Arno said. “Heck, I haven’t been to a store since I don’t know how long.
“It’s because they can’t find me,†he added. “I get up, go to school, go to practice, come home and have dinner and spend some time with my family and then go watch film.â€
Arno may be the only one who hasn’t taken at least a passing interest in tonight contest at Rutter, which features his undefeated Spartans (5-0, 1-0 Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division) taking on Athens (5-0, 2-0 TVC-Ohio) during Homecoming for the Bulldogs.
And who could blame them? This one has more interesting storylines than any daytime soap opera.
For starters, the Spartans and Bulldogs are intra-county rivals. Secondly, both now reside in the TVC-Ohio Division which means the outcome will affect the league standings. Third, both teams by virtue of their perfect starts are now thinking about playoff possibilities — a loss could critically wound either team’s hope.
And perhaps best of all, Athens and Alexander are playing out the kind of turnaround stories more akin to a feel-good movie than a TVC showdown.
Athens head coach Ryan Adams said that angle does add a little something extra to tonight’s matchup.
“I’m tickled to death for coach Arno,†he said. “He knows, like I do, what the tough times are like.
“To have these two teams in this position, in this kind of game, with our histories…it just makes it a little bit sweeter,†he added.
Those histories haven’t been kind. Alexander started its football program in 1966 with a five-game slate. Since then, the Spartans have had just eight einning seasons.
Dave Snipes guided Alexander to six-straight winning campaigns in the early 1970s, but then the Spartans hit a drought that lasted nearly two decades.
Alexander didn’t have another winning season until 1993 (6-4), and the team’s last winning year came in 1996 (7-3). Both of those teams, ironically, were coached by Dave Boston Jr., who has won five of the last six TVC-Ohio titles at Nelsonville-York.
The Spartans have never been to the postseason, and have gathered in just three league wins in the last 12 years.
Now, however, Alexander is a seasoned group that boasts a high-scoring offense. Hard-running backs Cody Lawson and Jake Hendrick have combined for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns, and quarterback Mike Chapman (533 yards, seven touchdowns, 1 interception) has been a steady on-the-field leader.
The Spartans have been the best offensive team in the league so far, with better than 400 yards and 42 points per game.
Arno said the biggest difference is his team’s maturity level.
“The experience is it,†he said. “Some of these guys have been through this the last couple of years. They’ve worked hard, they know what to do, and they execute.â€
Athens’ football history isn’t much sunnier. The Bulldogs haven’t won a league title since 1990 when they grabbed a four-way tie for top honors in the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League — a team on which Adams played. The ‘Dogs haven’t won an outright league title since 1968.
Just winning period has been a struggle for Athens since 1990. In the two decades since, the Bulldogs have had just three non-losing seasons. Athens was 5-5 in 2001, 6-4 in 2002 and 7-4 in 2003 — all three years came during standout quarterback Grant Gregory’s run with the ‘Dogs.
Since 1990, Athens has had 12 years where it recorded two wins or less.
But, Athens has been racking up wins in impressive fashion this season. The Bulldogs have won every game by no fewer than 21 points, is averaging better than 40 points a game, and is giving up a tic less than eight points a game defensively.
Athens quarterback Trey Harris has been spectacular this season, with 763 yards and 11 touchdowns through five games — without a single interception. The Bulldogs are big on both lines, and play physical football on the line of scrimmage.
Solid running backs DeVon Sharp (351 yards) and Tanner Weaver (266 yards) split the load in the backfield, and lightning-quick playmakers Ian Dixon, Shad McCollum and Frank Valentour have accounted for 34 catches, 580 yards and six touchdowns in the passing game.
“We’ve just been very blue-collar like so far,†Adams said. “We come out each week with a job to do. Our guys have been buying into being very business like and focused on the task at hand.â€
Two perfect records. Two long-suffering programs. Two communities swelling with pride because of the ‘09 season.
For one team, the dream season will continue.
“You have all these playoff implications. It’s homecoming. It’s the TVC. It’s a cross-county rival,†Adams said. “I don’t know how it could get much bigger.
“And then to have it be Athens and Alexander,†he added. “That’s just a neat and very interesting twist to what should be a great football atmosphere.â€
Even Arno, a team-first guy in every sense of the word and a coach who is always thinking long-term, think’s tonight’s game could be something special.
“It’s just really good for Athens County football,†he said. “That’s a real big positive, no matter who wins.â€
“When you’re looking undefeated at this point of the year, you have playoff implications with the winner of this game,†Athens head coach Ryan Adams said. “Between playoffs and homecoming, and the fact that you’re playing a rival right across town, I don’t know how it could get any bigger than this.â€
The game certainly will have an impact on the teams’ postseason chances and hopes for a TVC-Ohio title.
For Athens to have a chance at making the playoffs, the Bulldogs almost certainly need a win over Alexander. Athens is a Division II school, which makes it the biggest school in the TVC, and the Bulldogs cannot afford losing to smaller schools if they hope to play in week 11.
The Spartans could make the playoffs if they lose to Athens, but the road would be tough. But if they can beat Athens, that puts them in excellent position for a postseason bid.
In terms of a league championship, the team that wins Friday’s game still needs to knock off Nelsonville-York, which has won five of the last six titles, and is also still undefeated.
No matter which team leaves Basil Rutter Field with a victory Friday, both teams and schools understand the excitement that has finally started to build around their football programs, and that is exactly what they wanted.
WAITING IN THE WINGS
The Spartans and Bulldogs aren’t the only undefeated Athens County teams in action tonight. Nelsonville-York (5-0, 2-0 TVC Ohio) will host Belpre in a critical game at Boston Field. The Buckeyes, who have won five of the last six TVC-Ohio championships, will be squaring off at Alexander and at Athens during the next two weeks. Tonight’s Alexander-Athens winner will have cleared one hurdle, but the Buckeyes will still have a major say in who wins the TVC-Ohio this season.
