Athens Rebounds from Loss to Take Down Diboll, 42-7

[By Joe Elerson, Athens Daily Review]

DIBOLL -- The Athens Hornets bounced back with an impressive showing on the road in a 42-7 win over the Diboll Lumberjacks on Friday night.

The Hornets are now 1-1 on the season following a 36-20 loss in the season opener to Henderson last week at Bruce Field.

“It felt good to get a win again,” Athens coach Paul Essary said. “I thought we played a lot harder. I felt like we executed better with our base offense and defense. I feel like we were a lot better team this week than we were last week.”

The Hornets used a dominant offensive performance as they went back to their run-heavy offense with 51 carries for 424 yards rushing and six touchdowns. Junior running back Logan Fuller had a breakout game with 21 carries for 208 yards and one touchdown.

Senior Devin Hall finished with 17 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns, while Travon Fuller had four carries for 52 yards and two touchdowns rushing.

“The running game was working because the offensive line was blocking,” Essary said. “When the line blocks, it makes the running game a lot easier and with the way the offensive line goes, we go during the game.”

The Hornets scored the first touchdown Hall pounded his way into the endzone from seven yards. David Cedillo booted the PAT good with 9:15 remaining in the opening quarter.

Athens then went to work in the second quarter scoring 21 unanswered points to put the game out of reach. With nine minutes remaining in the quarter, Hall scored his second touchdown of the game, this time going in from eight yards out for the 14-0 lead.

Fuller got in on the act with 7:14 remaining as he barreled his way in from four yards out to give the Hornets a 21-0 lead following Cedillo's third PAT of the game.

Less than two minutes later, Fuller found an opening for a 15-yard touchdown run for the 28-0 lead with 5:06 remaining in the half.

With a first-down and 10 on the Athens 32-yard line, Diboll quarterback Kevin Hurley found Jamarcus Polk for a 31-yard completion to put the ball down on the one yard line. Diboll running back Deverick Thompson scored the Lumberjacks only touchdown with a one-yard plunge for the 28-7 deficit with eight seconds remaining in the half.

Essary said he was pleased with the way the defense played after giving up 36 points in the opener. The Hornets gave up only 197 yards of total offense to Diboll as they held Hurley to 53 yards passing in the game.

“It was really important to hold them to only seven points,” Essary said. “The touchdown play was a great pass from the quarterback to the receiver. I told them it was a great pass but we should have had a sack on the play before that. I thought we did an excellent job of flying around to the football and playing defense tonight.”

Athens scored the final 14 points on a 15-yard touchdown run by Travon Fuller and a three-yard run by quarterback Chad Head.

The Hornets return to Bruce Field on Friday night as they host the Hallsville Bobcats at Bruce Field. Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.