The Athens Golden Eagles football team would put up an impressive second half, but Hartselle’s solid two halves of offensive football would be enough to propel them to victory Friday evening, with a final score of 45-21 in favor of the Tigers.

Hartselle would jump out to a hot start in the first quarter and in the first half.

It would be 24-0 going into halftime, but adjustments made by the Athens coaching staff would see them perform much better out the gate in the second half.

Offensively, Athens would score 21 points in the second half, getting outscored 14-7 in the 3rd quarter before outscoring the Tigers in the 4th quarter 14-7.

Golden Eagles quarterback Brogan Gross would throw for over 250 yards and connect with Jay’Shon Ridgle (over 100 yards) twice for both his touchdowns in the game.

Kameron Gatewood continues to improve following a great showing the previous week versus Cullman – his first action of the 2022 season.

This week, he shared equal touches with Larry Howard, who carried much of the load during KG’s absence, as both tallied 13 carries.

While Howard had the rushing touchdown out of the pair of them, Gatewood continued to look impressive.

Defensively, Athens was able to get an interception, as Michael Mills brought one in.

Next up for Athens is a road trip to Huntsville to take on the winless Columbia Eagles in a regional matchup.

Columbia’s most recent game came against the Cullman Bearcats, where Cullman would win by a final score of 35-6.

Athens’ final three games includes this weekend against Columbia, the following weekend versus Fort Payne in their home finale and then their season finale against the Russellville High School Golden Tigers.

Stats from the game

Brogan Gross

16/24 passing for 251 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions

Jay’Shon Ridgle

6 catches for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns

Kameron Gatewood

13 rushes for 48 yards

4 catches for 32 yards

Larry Howard

13 rushes for 70 yards and 1 touchdown.

Johnson Speegle

2 catches for 64 yards

Caiden Dumas

2 catches for 29 yards

Updates will be provided on each of Athens’ remaining games this season.