Final: Waverly 30 Athens 27

[packers80]

Waverly by 10 plus

[Jason Vorhees]

Series History since 2000:
2000-2003: No Game
2004: Waverly 48 Athens 14
2005: Waverly 55 Athens 12
2006-2010: No Game
2011: Athens 42 Waverly 21
2012: Athens 67 Waverly 14
2013-2018: No Game

[toast]

The wait is just about over. Curious to see who can go for Waverly and to see some of these kids get their first taste of varsity experience. Go Tigers!!

[mattash]

https://seohiopreps.com/football/indian ... n-jackson/

[Raider6309]

Nathan White has always enjoyed hitting the practice field with the Athens Bulldogs.

And for good reason. An assistant coach since 2011, White has worked with three different all-Ohio quarterbacks.

Now White enters his first season as the head coach of the Bulldogs, and he joked that the time on the practice field is even more therapeutic. It gives him a couple hours away from all of his new tasks and off-the-field responsibilities that come with being in charge.


"As a head coach, I enjoy that time on the practice field more because that's when I get to shut off all the other stuff and really just focus on football," he said. "I've really learned to like practice — I always have — but now it's a time to shut off the brain to everything else and think football for a couple hours."

White is overseeing a new era of Athens football after taking over for the most successful coach in program history in Ryan Adams.

Adams went 96-37 in 12 seasons as a head coach including last year's 9-2 season that saw Athens win the Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division title and qualify for the Division III playoffs.

Adams decided to step away from coaching after last season, and White was the logical successor as the orchestrator of the Bulldogs' highly successful offense.

A new coach on the sidelines won't be the only change for the Bulldogs, who graduated 19 seniors from last year's TVC-Ohio championship squad.

Athens graduated seven players who received all-league honors, including the Offensive Player of the Year in quarterback Clay Davis and the Defensive Player of the Year in linebacker Logan Maxfield.

The Bulldogs will be relying on a bevy of first-year varsity players when the season kicks off on Friday at Waverly.

"It's equally fun every year," White said. "It really is, but I have to say it is fun truly coaching new kids and teaching them our scheme. It's a cool changeup. Most of those kids coming in last year, we were at the very least re-learning it. We have a lot of guys this year that are learning it for the first time."

With White in control, naturally all eyes will be on the quarterback for the Bulldogs. Junior Joey Moore appears ready to continue Athens' run of successful signal callers.

Young played safety and receiver as a sophomore last season. With Davis' graduation, he will focus only on offense as the speedster takes over the offense.

Every opposing defense the Bulldogs face this season will have to account for Young's play-making ability.

"He's doing a great job and I think that everyone knows that he's a talented kid," White said. "Fast kid, quick kid. Throws the ball well. Has worked really hard this summer and has really dedicated himself to being a quarterback."

White said Young has already displayed to the coaching staff his leadership skills during the summer, something that was vitally important for White.

"It sounds like a coaching cliche, but if your quarterback isn't your leader, you're not going to be as good as you can be," White said. "And that's been a great thing for our football team is him stepping up and being one of our vocal leaders and a guy who works really hard every single day."

The experience that Athens does return is its skill position group to go around Moore.


Senior Nate Trainer is a three-year starter, and Athens' lone returning all-league player. He caught 46 passes for 619 yards and six touchdowns as a junior.

"I know those guys are kind of leaning on him and looking to him," White said. "He's a kid that isn't a super vocal guy, but never takes a play off. Great practice player. Incredible effort all the time."

Peyton Gail is another returning receiver who had 33 receptions for 462 yards and a touchdown last season.

Trainer, Gail and senior Corbin Stalder will all take turns in the backfield for Athens. Either of the three could get carries from the tailback position, or receive passes from Young down the field.

"Empty will be our base, with no backs, and we'll have the ability to tag different guys to the backfield," White said. "So we will very likely not have a guy who gets 20 carries a game like we've had in the past. It will be two or three or four guys with five or six carries each.


"They're all three different running styles too which I think is a good thing to throw at defenses."

It will be the first time for Stalder to shine on Friday nights, as he played behind Maxfield defensively and tailback Evan Adams offensively last season.

"He is another guy that went from being a quiet, kind of in the background junior to a leader for us," White said. "He's a physical kid. It's been really cool to see him come out of his shell and I think the weight room has helped him a ton. He made a big transition in the spring and has blossomed into a leader for us."

As usual in a White-coached offense, Athens will attempt to get different players involved. Senior Braeden Halbert, senior Brayden Markins and senior Reece Wallace are also pass-catching threats.

One of the areas hit hardest by graduation is the offensive line, where the top seven players on last year's depth chart were all seniors.


A new group is ready to take over, led by senior Dylan Wogerman (6-foot-3, 275 pounds).

Wogerman was a starter on the defensive line last season, but has now also stepped up offensively at left guard.

"He has really bought in and learned it and really become a leader in that group," White said.

Junior Tanner McCune (6-1, 230) will handle the center duties. Junior Brian List (5-11, 185) is at left tackle, while sophomore Ashton Wogerman (6-5, 330) is in the mix at right guard and junior Alex Leatherwood (5-8, 165) at right tackle. Senior Isaiah Butcher (6-5, 275) and sophomore Devin Loew (5-8, 185) should also see reps.

"We have about six or seven kids right now that we're really rotating with our first group," White said.


White said the defense will mostly look the same despite long-time defensive coordinator Matt Goodwin stepping away to spend more time with his family. The Bulldogs will still incorporate a 3-3 stack for coaches Kris Kostival and Sam Vander Ven.

Just like on offense, Stalder will be playing a leading role at inside linebacker.

"Kind of a guy who would be great outside but we need a fast, physical guy back there and we're asking him to almost play out of position a little bit," White said. "He has really bought into it and is doing a nice job."

Gail and Trainer will move from the secondary to outside linebackers, with Trainer filling the shoes of MVP Maxfield.

One of the stories of Athens' two-a-days in August was junior linebacker Robby Brice. He started as a backup, but has worked his way into the Mike linebacker position.


"He's worked incredibly hard and learned the defense probably faster than anyone," White said. "Really caught our eye as a second teamer starting in August and really started making calls and getting guys in the right place and we realized quickly he earned a chance to play with the ones."

Senior Aiden Kostival will handle another inside linebacker spot, and junior Drake George will also see playing time as well.

Up front, Butcher figures to hold down one of the defensive end slots. A starter since his freshman season, Butcher can also play defensive tackle and be a force against opposing offensive lines from either position.

Wogerman will also return up front to help anchor the line with Butcher. Senior Kiah Smith, McCune, Loew and Leatherwood will also play up front.

White said that Athens' defensive linemen are versatile enough to move around depending on the matchup.


"They learn all three spots," White said. "We have an end and a nose and a tackle. If we find game to game a matchup that we like, we can move a certain guy to one of those three spots."

The secondary has undergone some changes with Moore focusing on quarterback and Trainer and Gail moving to linebacker. Markins is a returning starter though, and will be joined by Halbert and Wallace.

Similar to the defensive line, White wants those players to be able to handle cornerback or safety duties.

"We're going to have the ability to change those guys out and make sure that if somebody goes down, we can get into our next best and not have to necessarily put in the next corner," White said. "That's been something that's been really good for us."

Junior Ishmael Young and sophomore Braxton Springer will also provide Athens with depth in the secondary.


Athens will have a different lineup on the field in 2019, and a different schedule to open things up.

Warren and Fairland are off the schedule, replaced by Waverly and Jackson in the first two weeks.

The Tigers and Ironmen were both playoff teams last season, and should give Athens a test right out of the gate.

The rest of the Athens' schedule plays at the same, with non-league rematches against Parkerburg South and Logan.

Despite the new faces, Athens will still have high expectations toward making another run at a league title and playoff berth.


Athens hasn't had a losing record since 2008 — which was Adams' second season as head coach — and has posted eight consecutive winning seasons.

White said the current group of Bulldogs are eager to show they are prepared to continue that winning tradition.

"I think there's a little bit of a chip on their shoulder because anyone who wants to talk about our program wants to talk about the 20 guys that graduated," White said. "We personally don't spend any time talking about it but I've heard the guys talking along the lines of having a little bit of a chip and now it's their turn. That's a cool thing to see.

"I had almost all of these seniors as eighth graders in my math class so it's so cool to see them as 18-year old adults and they're getting to run the show."

Email at kwiseman@athensmessenger.com; follow on Twitter @KevinWmessenger

[Raider6309]

Waverly not have enough for a JV team? Saw they cancelled and Athens is playing Waterford's JV team now

[Kicker.]

really looking for special teams to be a tipping point, who’s punt/kick returners make a huge impact and the ability of punters and kickers in this game also

[Shane Falco]

Waverly by two scores.

[smurray]

Waverly not have enough for a JV team? Saw they cancelled and Athens is playing Waterford's JV team now

50+ on the roster but several 9th & 10th graders playing varsity, some starters. That may be the issue, I don’t know.

[smurray]

Less than 24 hours to kickoff and the final preparations have been made.
Not sure what the injury update is out of Waverly but needless to say some young kids are gonna have to step up.
This one could come down to who has the ball last and maybe even the kicking & return game.

[smurray]

Waverly 59 on the roster: 17 Freshmen, 20 Sophomores, 14 Juniors & 8 Seniors.
Seniors playing their final season:
Payton Shoemaker, Grayson Diener, Hunter Ward, Dakota Swepston, Zack Brown (still out), Anthony Wagner, Kenny Cydrus, Trevor McGwin.
I counted 9-10 freshmen/sophomores I know of for sure who will see significant playing time - possible answer to the JV situation.

GO TIGERS!!!!

[greygoose]

Shoemaker best player on the field and I'll take Waverly by 2 TDs

[Happy McGavin]

Good luck Athens

[countywide35]

doubt this will be a hard hitting affair...…..good luck to both teams......footballs finally here

[burgfella69]

I got Waverly

[Rolltanks]

Is shanks playing?

[OldTiger]

Is shanks playing?

At last nights walk through, both Shanks and Pollard (starting center) were on the field. So I’d think yes.
That puts 2 of the 4 injured starters on the field for Waverly tonight.

[MasterOfNone]

Going into this one, I have mixed feelings on what to expect from the Tigers. I've been to both scrimmages, know the personnel and have an idea on the game plan. But I'm still struggling with how tonight will go. Partly due to the unfamiliarity of Athens, even tho the bulldog faithful have done a nice job giving us the run down on here. It will come down to how the young and talented players for the Tigers handle the spotlight. Will they step up and thrive under the lights or will there be some growing pains along the way? I will not be surprised about either outcome. It's a little bit of an odd position to be in as a Tiger fan, because if things don't go as well as they should the team is still very young and the future is bright. But on the other hand you have hopes that success will come early with this group because you know the talent is there.

No matter the outcome, I know the coaching staff and players have worked very hard all offseason for this moment. Crabby will have his boys well prepared and they will play hard and with a lot of energy. Hoping for an injury free game for both sides.

[smurray]

Is shanks playing?

At last nights walk through, both Shanks and Pollard (starting center) were on the field. So I’d think yes.
That puts 2 of the 4 injured starters on the field for Waverly tonight.

Shanks plans to play, not sure about Pollard. I think he is a game time decision.

[Kicker.]

good luck to the tigers tonight