By Jayson Larson Sports Editor
At halftime, the Athens High School Stingerettes put on a dance routine to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
The Athens Hornets put on their own rendition of “Thriller,” too. And now they’re in the playoffs.
The Hornets (4-5, 3-1 in 20-3A) clinched what may have once seemed an improbable playoff berth with a 29-14 win over the Palestine Wildcats Friday night at Bruce Field. The win puts the Hornets in a three-way tie for first-place with Palestine (5-4, 3-1) and Brownsboro (7-1, 3-1), with Palestine Westwood trailing at 2-2.
Athens, however, can finish no worse than 3-2 and owns the tie-breaker over Westwood and now Palestine.
“A team that everyone doubted just made the playoffs,” Athens senior linebacker James Marshall said. “We came together, especially considering how the beginning of this year started, and we made it.”
The Hornets — preseason favorites to win the district championship — started the season 1-4 and then dropped the district opener to Crockett. But they haven’t lost since and travel to Brownsboro next week with a chance to claim at least a share of the 20-3A championship.
“I’m just so proud. These guys have come a long way with us,” Athens Head Coach Paul Essary said. “We’ve had a lot of adversity, and it’s been hard on them with all the changes, but they finally all adjusted to the situation. I’m so proud of them for not giving up, and now we’ve got a chance to win a district championship.”
The game wasn’t settled until the last six minutes, when the Hornets turned a Wildcat turnover into a touchdown. Wildcat quarterback Olin Terry dropped back to pass on third-and-17 and was pressured and hit by Austin Fincher and Desmond Bowie, causing a fumble recovered by Matt Jordan at the Wildcat 7.
Xavier Harris put the ball in the end zone on the next play to put the game away when, just moments earlier, the Wildcats were driving with a chance to tie the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion.
A big reason for the Hornets’ success was keeping Terry from burning them. Terry had been lighting up district defenses but was held to 15 yards on 12 carries and no rushing touchdowns.
The Hornets led by as much as 22-7 before the Wildcats cut the lead to eight on E.J. Spurlock’s 15-yard touchdown catch from Terry with 9:20 left in the game. It was their second scoring connection of the contest.
Jack Barkley threw a pair of touchdown passes for the Hornets. He hit Randall Gamble on a 20-yard pass in the second quarter that gave Athens a 10-7 lead, and after Justin Hofstetter’s 14-yard scoring run in the third quarter, he found Kendall Sanders on a 13-yard pass with a minute to go before the fourth quarter, making it 22-7.
Zabdiel Mota had a 19-yard field goal for Athens.
HORNETS 29, WILDCATS 14
PHS AHS
First Downs 15 17
Rushing Yards 106 169
Passing Yards 165 108
Total Yards 271 277
Passes Attempted 18 11
Passes Completed 8 5
Interceptions 2 0
Fumbles/Lost 2/1 4/1
Penalties 9/80 6/36
Punts 3/37.0 3/36.6
Score By Quarters
Palestine 0 7 0 7 — 14
Athens 3 7 12 7 — 29
Scoring Summary
AHS — Zabdiel Mota 19 FG
PHS — E.J. Spurlock 23 pass from Olin Terry (kick good)
AHS — Randall Gamble 20 pass from Jack Barkley (Mota kick)
AHS — Justin Hofstetter 14 run (kick fails)
AHS — Kendall Sanders 13 pass from Barkley (kick blocked)
PHS — Spurlock 15 pass from Terry (kick good)
AHS — Xavier Harris 7 run (Mota kick)
