Nelsonville-York (6-1) @ Athens (7-0)

[mister b]

This should be a good game.

2 factors come into play in my mind...

Nelsonville is a young team and the game is at Athens.

Becuase of this, I think Athens will win a 7.

Good luck and best of health to both teams.

[The Man of Football]

Athens dominates this the way should against the VERY small school N-Y as they should!

Wake up Athens if all it takes is dropping down to a conference that has all smaller schools in it for you to be successful then you have a serious problem!

Athens-34

N-Y -13

[Orange and Brown]

Athens dominates this the way should against the VERY small school N-Y as they should!

Wake up Athens if all it takes is dropping down to a conference that has all smaller schools in it for you to be successful then you have a serious problem!

Athens-34

N-Y -13

You don't have to get on here and bash Athens!!

[questionmark]

Athens dominates this the way should against the VERY small school N-Y as they should!
Wake up Athens if all it takes is dropping down to a conference that has all smaller schools in it for you to be successful then you have a serious problem!

Once again we are graced with lovely comments not about the Actual Game itself but about the make-up of the schools and where they play in terms of leagues...Athens and NY have been playin' for years on years, just like Meigs, Alexander, Galia. These schools never seemed to care what league Athens was in. Next year we add Warren back again, making that (5 out the 10 games that are still the same back when I played for Athens in the SEOAL). Yes being in the new league Athens is required to pick up league opponents Vinton County (DIII), Wellston (DIV), Belpre (DV). People make a big deal about the sizes but there isn't that much of a difference between Athens/Alex/Meigs & VC.

Belpre leaves the TVC-Ohio next year meaning Athens loses that *required* (DV) game and now can fill it will a team higher up like Warren who is DII or DIII. I believe Athens also picked up Parkersburg South for next season.

Athens will play one more season next year as a (DII) squad, which hurts them because they are around 10 guys too many to be (DIII) squad, which they will be in 2011 Football Season...

What then will people have to use to try and bring down a program that is doing nothing more than to rebuild a shattered program. Athens will be (DIII), Vinton will be (DIII), Alex may even be (DIII) at that time, leaving just Meigs and Wellston at (DIV) and NY at (DV)...Your argument will diminish in time, and the League will be the best it has ever been...

What I find funny is how people make such a big deal out of one season...Athens fans, only time will tell, but I think we have some jealously (Finally) coming from some people who will remain nameless (The Man of Football)...so keep up the good work, win every chance you get, take what people do not want you to take and enjoy playing fundamentally sound football day in and day out....

Coach Adams & Staff have done a tremendous job and it's only getting better!!!

***And O&B, thanks for the support from Buckeyeland, even though it is NY/ATH WEEK..also its funny, I never hear NY complain about school sizes in the OHIO and they are the smallest school...show of character which TMOF doesn't seem to have.***

[pbuck]

2 days away LET'S GO BUCKEYES !!!!!

[buckeye_master]

ALEX WOKE A SLEEPING GIANT THIS WEEK AND WOW THE BUCKS ARE FIRED UP AND AFTER THE TOUGH LOSS THATS MAKES A BIG DIFFRENCE I SEEN THAT LAST WEEK WHEN ALEX COME OFF A LOSS IT JUST PUSHED THEM TO FIGHT HARDER ... SO ALL THAT SAID I SEE NY WITH A BIGGER ATTACK AT DEFENCE AND ARNOLD AND CUNNIGHAM,,ANDREWS ON THEIR "A" GAME AND THE QB DEAN WILL BE MORE FOCUSED AND WILL FIND AN OPEN MAN FOR A GOOD PASSING GAME IF NEEDED JUST MY THOUGHTS GOOD LUCK BUCKS HOPE EVERYONE STAYS INJURY FREE AND FOR THE RECORD GOOD LUCK DOGS ASWELL YALL DO LOOK GOOD THIS YEAR IT HAS BEEN YEARS SENCE I HAVE SEEN THIS TEAM COME THIS FAR BUCKS "O" LINE WILL PLAY BETTER THIS WEEK AND WILL PLAY WITH PRIDE

[buckeye_master]

FORGET THE RECORDS THIS WEEK THIS GAME WILL BE A FIGHT TO THE END I SEE ALOT OF BLOOD ON BOTH SIDES IN A FIGHT FROM HELL FRIDAY NIGHT ....GOOD OLD FOOTBALL GAME THIS WEEK I LOVE IT EITHER WAY IT WILL BE A GOOD ONE

[ace63]

Athens dominates this the way should against the VERY small school N-Y as they should!

Wake up Athens if all it takes is dropping down to a conference that has all smaller schools in it for you to be successful then you have a serious problem!

Athens-34

N-Y -13

You don't have to get on here and bash Athens!!

Hello O & B. I think i will go to this game . Probley be standing room only. But I think it will be a great game.
Ill buy you a hot choc or coffee if i see ya. ITS GOING TO BE COLD .

[Green Beagle]

Athens and Ny have been playing each other for about 25 years now and Ny has Never complained about their size. In the last few years most of the TVC Ohio teams have been playing Athens so I believe the thought was, It may as well be a league game. As for haters. Look at some of the NY threads, some of the Trimble threads....ect... If you have a sucessfull program You will get hate mail. So if your not having people hate you every now and then all you need to do is win. No one is will envy a team that loses. Win a few and they come out of the wood work. Good luck to the Buckeyes and the Bulldogs. Makes for a great game.

[Maximus the Merciful]

The AD's of the TVC voted unanimously to accept Athens into the league. If you don't like the enrollment discrepency, take it up with them.

Should be a great game Friday night and a great gate$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. One big reason for their acceptance into the league!

[JayKay]

NY will suffer their second loss this Friday night. Athens will be too much for the Buckeyes to handle. They simply have too many weapons in their arsenal. I believe NY goes into Friday night the underdog. Will be a very interesting match up.

[Baldeagle]

It might be awhile before N-Y wins another TVC championship)

So because NY lost for the first time to Alex and because NY is only 16-2 in the last 18 years vs. Athens, the sky is falling for NY?

In a word......YES!

[buckman]

Any A-town folks out there who can report on field conditions? It's supposed to rain the next two days, so I was curious if there's still grass on the field, or has soccer skinned it up?... assuming they play soccer games on the same surface.

Thanks!

[Orange and Brown]

All I can say is throw out the records and the stats because this game has been a good one more often than not no matter what the records were. Athens could very well blow Nelsonville-York out of the water, Nelsonville-York could very well do the same thing to Athens!!!

I say this will be a close game. It will be a hard hitting game, played on a sloppy field. It's gonna be a fight to the end.
Bucks win in OT 26-20!!!!!

I would like to wish the best of luck to both teams in the game Friday night!! May the best team win(Buckeyes)

[93Bulldog]

The field has been taken care of really well all year; but, when you have as many games as Athens does (soccer, girls soccer, JV football games, JV soccer games, etc..etc...) there is just no getting around it - this time of year plus some rainfall makes R. Basil Rutter Field a mess.

It probably won't be terrible because the guys who have been caring for it this year have done a great job compared to previous seasons ... But it won't be great either ...

The muddy field aided Alexander last Friday and if I had to choose who it would help most this week I would have to say Nelsonville-York. Alexander is, and has been, the TVC-Ohio rushing leader since early in the season ... they have rushed the ball a league high 305 times! It was no surprise they were more equipped for the mud last week - compared to NY who posses a back with speed, agility and awesome cut back ability.

This week, Nelsonville-York is the team that has carried the ball more than its opponent. The 'Bucks have rushed for 1,672 yards on 267 carries and have scored 20 TD's ... The rain still hurts Arnold a little bit, but with the run being NY's 'bread-and-butter', they may have edge over Athens playing on a wet, soggy field.

Athens is not completely handicapped here though, the 'Dogs have scored 24 rushing touchdowns this season, which is tied with Meigs for 2nd most in the TVC-Ohio behind the Spartans. They have carried the ball 258 times (only 9 less times than NY) for 1,503 yards. But Athens' has been more diverse than any team I have seen the past few years ... You can never predict what they are gonna do each week, and one aspect of their game that definitly makes them dangerous is the pass. Harris has thrown for 882 yards, completed an amazing 68 passes on just 123 attempts. For a junior in high school to complete over 55% of his passes with that many attempts is really, really good. But the most noticable stat Harris has is "ZERO" interceptions after all those attempts. With the young signal caller leading the league is passing yards and touchdowns (12), there is no doubt that if the field is muddy and the ball is wet - it hurts Athens more.

On the flip side of that coin, you could say hey, look at the Alexander game when Athens ran it 36 times for 283 yards with four rushing TD's while only throwing for 10 yards ... Or perhaps the Meigs game when they ran it 40 times for 234 and 4 TD's ... The ability to run is there for Athens, but the ability to pass so well makes their ground game so much more effective ... Last week against Wellston, the Golden Rockets stacked the line of scrimmage and Athens only ran for 87 yards on a somewhat muddy playing surface ... But Harris threw for 109 with a TD ... The Bulldogs also had quick scoring strikes, like a 46-yard punt return by Ian Dixon and a 52-yard end around by Shad McCollum, which hurt their time of possesion and offensive statistics a little bit.

We will have to wait and see how the rest of the week looks, but if it keeps raining and it rains while they are actually playing Friday - probably favors NY slightly (but that's just my oppinion) ... And of course, the weather is not the "MAIN" contributor for a team winning a football game; its just one aspect. NY still has to deal with the Athens defense, which has been No. 1 overall in the TVC-Ohio in just about every defensive category all season. Allowing only 46 points to be scored against you after seven games is down right stingy ... Shutting out Gallia Academy, a Wellston team with Jaylen Prater in the back field and only allowing an Alexander team (that leads the TVC-Ohio in total team offense) to a mere 7 points is impressive. The last 12 quarters played for the Bulldogs (three games) they have not given up a single touchdown - or allowed the opponent to score in any way. The Spartans scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone, which means not one team has crossed the goal-line on the Bulldogs 'D' since September 18th (Vs Meigs) ... that is almost an entire month since a team last scored on Athens ... I would say that aspect of the game is a little more important than a few rain drops or damp field.

All the TVC-Ohio and Hocking stats are completed through week 7; They should be uploaded sometime today.

trivalleyconference.com

[AxGrinder]

Only games being played on the field this week is Varsity Soccer last night (Senior Night) and the Game on Friday. The JV, Freshman football games were changed to the field at Chauncey.

Field will definitely be wet not sure it will be a mess but as the game wears on it could get worse. Still think this will benefit the Bulldogs. Still sure my dawgs will pull through with another victory. But of course we should, we're DII right?

[LEROY]

Great post, 93bulldog!

Stats favor Athens, but this is a tough game to pick, given that there is so much outside of the stats that could come into play. Big game for both teams. Athens County rivalry. Trophy game. Bragging rights for a year. Playoffs. Established tradition vs. upcoming program. My gut says Nelsonville-York, but my mind says Athens.

I'll pick Athens for the win. Good luck to both teams--have a great game and keep this rivalry going.

[pbuck]

One Day left till we get this one underway..... last day of preperation make it a great one Buckeyes!!!!

[whompascat]

have the buckeyes got off the carpet and practiced on grass this week? They looked like fish out of water at alex. I think practicing in the mud would have to help some.

[buckman]

Great Post 93!

Nelsonville is small this year, but they're fast, which was evident against Piketon, Berne, and other teams that were bigger up front. The wet fields negates that a bit, and favors the big boys in the middle... which I assume A-town has. That's why I think a messy field hurts NY.

I'm not sure weather would be much of a factor this year, given how well Athens has played all year, but I don't think it's any sort of advantage for NY. I hope to see a good game on Friday, and I'll root for whomever gets to week 11.

Go Bucks!