Wellsboro finished with 285 passing yards and over 300 total yards of offense, but the Hornets couldn’t contain the Wildcats’ as Athens piled up 450 yards .. including 319 yards and all of their five scores on the ground. 

Sophomore quarterback Griffin Morral completed 12 of his 27 passing attempts for 236 yards and two TD passes and accounted for 39 of the Hornets 43 total rushing yards, while senior Marek Mascho caught four passes for 140 yards and a touchdown and threw a 49-yard TD pass in the loss. 

Both teams took some time getting their offenses moving as Athens scored on one of their five first-half possessions .. and also punted once, fumbled the ball back to the Hornets and turned the ball over on downs twice .. while the Hornets had six chances with the ball in the first two quarters and punted three times, had a fumble, turned it over on downs and added their first score of the night .. a 53-yard pass from Morral to Mascho 30 seconds into the 2nd quarter that left Wellsboro down 7-6 at the break after a blocked PAT.

The Hornets held Athens to just six plays on their first drive of the second half, including a 4th down stop, to take over at their own 41. On the first play of the drive Morral hit Mascho on a 35-yard pass to the Athens 24. Two plays later Morral found junior Ethan Keane for the score and then hit senior Dylan Copp in the back corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion to give Wellsboro a 14-7 lead. 

Athens tied the game up on a 15-yard run by Karson Sipley with 1:45 left to play in the third as they took advantage of a roughing the passer call on the Hornets that wiped out an interception by Marek Mascho. 

Athens then went on a 21-0 run that spanned the end of the 3rd quarter to the middle of the 4th. After Connor Davidson intercepted a Morral pass on Wellsboro's ensuing drive, the Wildcats' offense went back to work for an eight-play, 42-yard drive, with 1-run score from Sipley, putting the Wildcats up, 21-14.

The Wildcats forced a three-and-out on the Hornets' next drive before Sipley scored for the third time from 22 yards out, giving Athens a 28-14 lead with 5:54 left to play.

Wellsboro would score on their ensuing drive, however, to keep the Wildcats within reach. Runs by Mascho and Morral moved the ball to the Athens' 49. Facing a 3rd-and-8 Wellsboro went with a halfback pass, but it fell incomplete. Wellsboro went for it on 4th down, and again opted for the trick play. Morral took the snap, tossed it to Mascho and the former QB turned running back waited until the last possible second before finding Copp open in the secondary. Copp raced down the Wellsboro sideline for a 49-yard score. The Hornets again went for two, and converted as Morral and Copp connected for the second time on the evening, cutting the lead down to six, 28-22.

Wellsboro attempted an onside kick, but the ball didn't go the minimum 10 yards and rolled out of bounds, setting the Wildcats up at the Hornet 42-yard line. From there, the Wildcats put together a four-play drive, highlighted by a 19-yard run by Davidson and capped by Sipley from 12 yards out.

Athens accumulated 450 yards of offense in the win, 318 of which came by Davidson. He finished 9-of-19 passing for 118 yards and ran 30 times for 200 yards. Sipley finished with 122 yards on 18 carries and Ryan Cook (53) and Gage Marmor (39) both hauled in four passes each.

Defensively, Jorden Hines led the way for Wellsboro with 10 tackles while Mascho, Copp and juniors Max Mascho and Izaya Campbell all made seven tackles each.

Next week the Hornets (3-3, 3-2 NTL Large School Division) travel to Alparon Park to take on the Troy Trojans (5-1, 5-0 NTL Large School Division).

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1st Quarter

Athens - TD 4:36 Connor Davidson 13 YD RUN (Zachary Fisher kick). 7-0

2nd Quarter

Wellsboro -  TD 11:26 Marek Mascho 53 YD PASS from Griffin Morral (Finn Matthews kick blocked). 7-6

3rd Quarter

Wellsboro - TD 7:27 Ethan Keane 24 YD PASS from Griffin Morral (Two-Point Conversion Good). 7-14

Athens - TD 1:43 Karson Sipley 15 YD RUN (Zachary Fisher kick). 14-14

4th Quarter

Athens - TD 9:19 Karson Sipley 1 YD RUN (Zachary Fisher kick). 21-14

Athens - TD 5:54 Karson Sipley 22 YD RUN (Zachary Fisher kick). 28-14

Wellsboro - TD 3:03 Dylan Copp 49 YD PASS from Marek Mascho (Two-Point Conversion Good). 28-22

Athens - TD 1:00 Karson Sipley 12 YD RUN (Zachary Fisher kick). 35-22

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