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Warren Warriors fall to Athens, 47-7

Warren’s Ronnie Hill carried the ball during a high school football game against Athens Friday night in Vincent. Photo by Ron Johnston.

VINCENT — Ronnie Hill had a long run to paydirt nullified because of a penalty in the third quarter.

But the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Warren High quarterback kept plugging away, and early in the final stanza, he plunged two yards into the end zone but it was not nearly enough as the Warriors dropped a 47-7 decision to visiting Athens High in season-opening gridiron action Friday night.

“It’s Athens and they’re good,” Hill said. “There is a point in the game where size does matter. When we’ve got kids 130 pounds going against people over 300.

“I still have hope. Anybody can win. Anybody can beat anybody. We came out here tonight, and we gave it our heart. I’ve played football since kindergarten, and I love the game.”

The Bulldogs (1-0) just had too many weapons for the Warriors (0-1) to defend. Quarterback Clay Davis looked like the second coming of Joey Burrow as he passed for 209 yards and four touchdowns to four different receivers. Running back Mikel Casteel rushed for 100 yards on 15 carries and one TD.

On Athens’s first offensive possession, Davis passed 81 yards to Treyce Albin for a score. The Dogs then stretched their lead to 14-0 on Evan Adams’ short run to paydirt.

Early in the second quarter, Warren’s Thomas Miller picked off a Davis throw, but the Warriors were unable to capitalize on the turnover.

Redeeming himself, Davis came back and threw three TD passes to Robert Dickeman, Nick Barga and Chase Sammons of 15, 33, and 34 yards, respectively.

Late in the second, Athens’ Easton McCollum had a pick-6 and the Bulldogs’ advantage bulged to 40-0.

Just before the break, Hill engineered a drive to the AHS six-yard line. But with just a couple of seconds left on the clock, the Warren QB’s throw to Tyler Schafer was incomplete.

Early in the third quarter, with a running clock, Casteel, who had 53 yards on 10 carries at halftime, ran the ball up the Warren gut several times until he finally scored from nine yards out at the 8:58 mark.

At the 7:09 mark, Hill rolled left, cut inside, and turned on the jets all the way to the house. Unfortunately, it was called back due to an illegal shift.

“He’s a playmaker,” said Warren coach Tim Carver. “We’re expecting him to do that all season for us.”

Early in the fourth period, Hill nearly hit Gandee with a long, scoring strike. But Gandee was tackled by Athens at the two. Hill, though, made it official with a QB sneak.

“The kids didn’t give up,” Carver said. “They stayed in there until the bitter end. That says a lot about the character that we’re trying to develop here, too.”

Added Hill, “Warren’s been down since my freshman year, but just because we’ve been down doesn’t mean I’m going to quit the sport I love.”

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