Ever since taking a 48-7 beating by New Bern in last year’s state playoffs, Athens Drive football players have had a bitter taste in their mouths.

After Friday’s season opening 41-14 loss to West Johnson, the taste is still there.

“We’ve been practicing better than this and scrimmaging better than this,” said Athens head coach Jeff Smouse. “It’s kind of disappointing.”

West Johnson junior running back C.J. Frederick tore through the Jags’ defense. He finished the game with 19 carries for 205 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown scamper in the third quarter.

“We’re going to find a way to get our playmakers the football,” said West Johnson head coach Bennett Jones. “It just so happens we saw some things in the running game that we were able to exploit.”

The game started out slow, as both teams exchanged scores and possessions. However, West lit up in the second quarter and never looked back.

With less than three minutes left in the half, Wildcats senior running back Mallie Umphrey broke a 7-7 tie with an 83-yard touchdown run. On Athens Drive’s next possession, Jaguars quarterback Ross Snotherly was picked off by defensive back Wayne Green.

With under a minute to go, Umphrey found the end zone again, this time as the recipient of a 20-yard pass from quarterback Lincoln Morton.

Umphrey finished with 125 rushing yards on just six carries.

Meanwhile, Athens racked up nearly 400 yards of offense but had difficulty getting into rhythm and scoring points.

“The offensive line got beat by the defensive line,” said Smouse. “We didn’t make real good reads all the time passing but it’s not just our quarterback. He threw a couple good balls and we dropped them.”

Athens senior running back Darius Williams led the team with 120 yards rushing, including a 34-yard touchdown scamper in the first quarter.

Jags back-up quarterback Ben Snotherly rounded out the scoring with a 23-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Despite a disappointing opening performance, Smouse thinks his team can improve.

“We’ve just got to pick ourselves up. I told our kids we’re not gonna quit on them, we don’t want them to quit on us,” said Smouse. “We’re a good enough team to come back.”

Athens plays this Friday at Enloe High School. The Jags won last year’s matchup in a 63-47 shootout.