Gallipolis at Athens

Anyone who thinks the Bulldogs will go backwards with the loss of their entire line might be in for a surprise. They return a veteran QB and a bevy of athletes. Keep an eye on Sharp and Dixon, they are the real deal. The Dawgs take on a tough non-league slate though so it won't take long to find out what they got. The Bulldogs were 2-18 againts the Devils before last year. I think they make it two in a row.

The Sharp kid has some moves, thats for sure.

Galllia Academy was a deceiving 2-8 last season under a new coach and a very different offensive scheme than they've been used to in the French City. In their last game against Marietta they rushed for over 450 yards (including breaking the SEOAL single game rushing record with 330 yards by their tailback) Look at their schedule from last year and you can see that they played some tough competition and seemed to get better as the year went on. An upset week one of the Bulldogs would not surprise me

2009 Season Record
Aug. 28—Gallipolis 0 Athens 21 (Athens finished 9-1)
Sept. 4—Gallipolis 34 at Hillsboro 35 (Hillsboro finished 8-2)
Sept. 11—Gallipolis 6 Ironton 39 (Ironton finished 9-3)
Sept. 18—Gallipolis 6 Logan 57 (Logan finished 11-1)
Sept. 25—Gallipolis 16 at Jackson 28 (Jackson finished 7-3)
Oct. 2—Gallipolis 21 at Portsmouth 34 (Portsmouth finished 7-3)
Oct. 9—Gallipolis 27 Chillicothe 10 (Chillicothe was 1-9)
Oct. 16—Gallipolis 14 Bishop Hartley 28 (Hartley finished 7-3)
Oct. 23—Gallipolis 7 Zanesville 28 (Zanesville finished 9-1)
Oct. 30—Gallipolis 42 at Marietta 6 (Marietta finished 1-9)

I agree Pig, Gallia will be much improved and I don't think it would be an upset if the Devils get the victory. The Dawgs have athletes to spare but are starting a whole new line that probably needs some time to come into their own.

Gallia Academy 24, Athens 20.

Athens 26 Gallia 21