WEST POINT — The Golden Eagle’s offense sputtered in the first quarter against the West Point Warriors, but took off in the second quarter en route to a 42-0 victory on Friday night.

The Warrior defense held the Golden Eagles to just seven points in the first quarter, but gave up the big plays in the second quarter, mostly to wideout Jacquez Pride who had 179 receiving yards on 5 carries.

“It was tough going there in the first quarter, but that was a product West Point playing hard,” said Athens head coach Allen Creasy. “Those kids played their hears out. Our depth got to them a little bit and we were able to get fresh legs out there on the field.”

West Point finally took the next step towards rebuilding the program

with the offense controlling the clock and sustaining drives. The defense showed progress by competing at the line of scrimmage and the unit finally started finishing tackles.

“Tonight’s progress was a product of hard work during practice,” said Warriors head coach Michael Simmons. “I don’t know how else to say it but that we were out athleted.”

The Warriors are in their first season at 5A and are in the bottom eight percent in enrollment, while Athens was No. 4 in the state coming into the game and is one of the biggest school’s at the 5A level.

Athens quarterback Robbie Ezell had a big game for the Golden Eagles throwing for 231 yards off eight completion’s. He also threw for three touchdowns in the game.

But what was supposed to be a night in the spotlight for Ezell turned sour with 1:58 left in the third quarter. After a busted play, Ezell threw a punch at a West Point defender causing his teams’ drive to stall after the 15-yard penalty and he was ejected from the game.

Athens fullback Robert Brown picked up the first score of the game after finding his way into the end zone on a 6-yard run. In the second quarter the passing attack started for the Golden Eagles as Ezell threw for three touchdowns.

He hooked up with Jacquez Pride for back to back touchdowns of 68 and 46 yards respectively.

“Wow, No. 3 for those guys really hurt us,” Simmons said. “He had some big plays that really broke the game open.”

Ezell would then hit Justin Pitts in the corner of the end zone with just 24 seconds left in the half as Pitts showed his high level on concentration catching a pass that had been deflected by a West Point defender, all while keeping his feet in-bounds.

Ferrell Williams and Pride would also pick up rushing touchdowns in the second half.