By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Jamiere Munson wore a fresh pair of gloves Friday night. It won’t be the last time the Greece Athena Trojan dons the new gear.
Munson finished with a touchdown reception to go with a trio of drive-ending plays on the defensive side as Athena improved to 2-0 on the season with a 27-14 win over Greece Olympia/Odyssey.
“We were beating ourselves,” Munson said of first-half penalties that slowed Athena. “We had to get rid of those and play to our potential. We came out strong in the second half.”
Jayden Rapp hit Munson out of the backfield on the first play from scrimmage of the third quarter.
Munson scampered down the sideline 58 yards for a touchdown.
“They were playing one, high safety,” Rapp said of his read on the play. “He (the defender) picked a side. Whatever side he picked, we knew the other was open. I looked over. Jamiere was wide open. He did the rest.”
It was Munson’s first touchdown of the season.
“All I was thinking was don’t drop it,” he said laughing.
The junior wide receiver/defensive back didn’t drop much on Friday.
His goal-line interception on the second play of the fourth quarter halted a 10-play Olympia/Odyssey drive. He followed that with a sack on a fourth down play on the next defensive possession. Finally, he ended the night for Olympia/Odyssey making his second interception with 4:53 remaining.
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“He’s a great character kid,” second-year Athena head coach Mike Husdan said. “Any time a kid is good in school you know that he’s going to be in the right spot. He’s knows the defense. As a returning player, he knows the game. It really slowed down for him today. He made some really good plays.”
Jamiere Munson picks his second pass of the night for @atrojanfootball 27-14 with 10:54 remaining pic.twitter.com/mWn6pJTlzg
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 27, 2021
And he also showed patience. His touchdown came on the second occurrence of a play.
“We ran it in the first half,” Munson said of his touchdown reception. “It was open, but we didn’t hit it.”
Second time through, Rapp and Munson let the play develop.
“A lot of times when you’re in the moment, especially as a quarterback and there are a lot of things flying at you, you lose track of what’s going on,” Husdan noted. “The first time we ran it, we had a little bit of pressure on us, so our quarterback (Joshua Ranalletta) stepped up to the right side.
“The concentration of the play was to the left side, a wheel coming out of the back field. That hampered us a little bit. We knew we were going to come back to it. Just told him to be patient, let it develop. The line did a great job for us.”
The teams traded touchdowns for the first 17 minutes of the contest.
Jamie Tackley took advantage of a poor snap on a punt to recover a fumble in the end zone for a 7-0 Athena lead.
Olympia/Odyssey’s Darnell Williams took the ensuing kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown. Less than two minutes had elapsed and the game was tied at seven.
“They let us know right away that we were in for a game,” Husdan said. “It’s going to be a tough game when you’re playing a hometown rival.”
Jayden Dorsey capped a seven-play Athena drive with a touchdown from inside the one-yard line to give the Trojans the lead again.
Xavier Hurell highlighted a seven-play Olympia/Odyssey drive with a 10-yard rush knot the game again.
1st and goal from the 10. Xavier Hurell. @atrojanfootball 14 @Oly_Athletics / @Ody_Athletics 14 pic.twitter.com/AV9DCoOP1T
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 26, 2021
“He really hurt us,” Husdan said of Hurell who finished with 127 yards on 10 carries. “He got us out of our defense a little bit. Originally [Luke Strong] was the guy we were focusing on. We didn’t want him to get the ball.”
Rapp entered the game at quarterback with 3:47 to go in the half and marched the Trojans 57 yards down the field. The freshman connected with Aidan McDonald from 25 yards out to give Athena a lead it did not surrender.
First down from the 20: Jayden Rapp funds Aidan McDonald @atrojanfootball 21-14 pic.twitter.com/gzQp92kKPT
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 27, 2021
“Coach [Mike] McClaren was doing a great job calling our plays,” Rapp said. “He told us how the middle of the field was open. Just had Aidan do a seam across the middle and get over the linebacker.”
Athena’s Eliel Nieves kept Olympia/Odyssey from taking a lead into halftime when the junior defensive back intercepted in the end zone with :05 seconds remaining in the first half.
“Overall, the defense delivered when we needed it, they stepped up and made the important plays, important stops,” Husdan said.
Xavier Jones made seven tackles for Olympia/Odyssey including two for a loss and a sack.
Athena hosts Irondequoit on Thursday in a battle of undefeated teams. A 7 p.m. kickoff is scheduled. Olympia/Odyssey travels to play Eastridge on the same night for another 7 p.m. start.
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