The Fort Payne Wildcats lost against the Athens Golden Eagles back in October of 2022, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. Fort Payne and Athens were almost perfectly matched up, but Fort Payne suffered an agonizing 29-28 defeat. Fort Payne has struggled against Athens recently, as their match on Friday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
When it comes to explaining why Fort Payne lost, one person who can't be blamed is Dax Varnadore. Despite the final result, he threw for 262 yards and a touchdown.
Leading Athens to victory were John Mcintyre and Brogan Gross. Mcintyre picked up 136 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while Gross threw for 349 yards and three touchdowns. Athens also got help from JayShon Ridgle who showed off his sure hands for 94 receiving yards.
Fort Payne's loss dropped their record down to 5-4. As for Athens, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Fort Payne will take on Mortimer Jordan at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Athens, they will look to defend their home field on Friday against Russellville at 7:00 p.m. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Alabama (Russellville is ranked 67th, while Athens is ranked 49th).
