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Athens Prevails 23-21 Over Mifflinburg, Advances to District 4 Class 3A Title

 
Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

| November 14, 2026

MIFFLINBURG – In the District 4 Class 3A semifinal, it was a battle of the Wildcats, and Athens knew they were the underdogs coming in, as they were going up against the defending district champs on the road. Mifflinburg was chasing a chance to earn a second straight district title, while Athens was trying to make their first appearance in the district title in two decades. In the end, Athens showed their grit and got the 23-21 victory, advancing to the District 4 title for the first time since 2006.

Athens, despite having a better record than Mifflinburg at the end of the regular season, finished third in the standings due to a weaker strength of schedule. Athens competes in the Northern Tier League, while Mifflinburg competes in the Heartland Athletic Conference, so Mifflinburg got a slight edge despite finishing 8-2, compared to Athens’ 9-1 record. That same weaker schedule is what many used to discredit Athens coming into the playoffs.

“That’s a great football team that we played over there, but we have a good football team, we don’t get a lot of credit because of where we play football,” Athens’ head coach Shawn Bradley said. “We don’t play the best teams, but we’ve beaten some good teams, and these kids have worked for this.”

Athens’ biggest weapon all season long had been their senior quarterback Connor Davidson, who leads the entire state in total touchdowns. Coming into the game, Davidson had 48 touchdowns on the year, and early on Athens wanted to make his presence known. After forcing a quick three and out on Mifflinburg’s opening drive, Athens took advantage of some great starting field position and marched 47 yards, capping off the possession with a 7 yard score from Davidson, who accounted for 42 yards on that drive.

It took two three and outs from Mifflinburg before they finally got themselves into a rhythm offensively. They had just 3 total yards combined after their first two drives, but after forcing a punt on Athens’ second possession, Mifflinburg finally started to move the ball. With a healthy combination of runs from Landon Moser and a couple passes from Brennen Snyder, Mifflinburg drove 86 yards in 12 plays, finishing the drive off with a goal line touchdown run from Snyder, evening the score at 7 a piece just two minutes into the second quarter.

Athens seemingly controlled most of the first half offensively with their run game, however at the halftime break, they had only outgained Mifflinburg 146 to 131 in total yards. On top of that, Athens only led by three going into the locker room, largely due to two big stands by Mifflinburg’s defense. They halted a 60 yard Athens drive at the 7 yard line, forcing them to kick a 24 yard field goal which gave Athens a 10-7 lead, as well as stopping Athens on fourth down at the 35 yard line with 15 seconds left in the half.

Beginning the second half trailing by three, Mifflinburg came out of the gate in third quarter with a purpose, allowing Athens to gain just 2 yards on their opening possession out of halftime. Immediately after that, Mifflinburg’s offense found their stride once again, marching 71 yards in just 7 plays, highlighted by a 29 yard catch and run play by Seth Hartman to kickstart the drive, and a 25 yard touchdown run by Moser to finish the drive.

Then it was Athens that picked their offense back up, and once again it was Davidson that kept the team moving. Trailing 14-10 halfway through the third quarter, Athens went back to controlling the clock, driving 74 yards in 13 plays, as well as draining a little under seven minutes of game clock. The possession spanned into the first 20 seconds of the fourth quarter and it was capped off by a second touchdown run from Davidson, and it put Athens back ahead 17-14.

“You can’t teach what he does, we’re lucky to have that boy on our team,” coach Bradley said about Connor Davidson. “We have our line, our six guys in front of him, they played their tails off and blocked for him, but Connor’s a difference maker on both sides of the football, and he deserves all credit.”

For most of the game up to this point, the momentum had been shifting back and forth between Athens and Mifflinburg, and after Davidson’s second touchdown, obviously the momentum shifted back to be slightly in Athens’ favor. However a key mistake from Mifflinburg gave Athens complete control of the game, as on their next possession, Mifflinburg opted to go for it on 4th and 4 from their own 37 yard line. They had the right play call, as Snyder rolled to his right and threw a pass to an open Jackson Marr, but the ball went off his hands and fell to the ground.

Athens needed just five plays to capitalize on Mifflinburg’s mistake, however the biggest play of that possession was a 15 yard catch and run by Gage Marmor on 3rd and 11 to keep the drive moving. Then after that, Davidson ran for a 21 yard gain, and then a 2 yard gain, which ended with him in the end zone and all of the sudden, Athens led 23-14 with 7:38 left in regulation and was completely in the drivers seat.

It seemed like all hope was lost for Mifflinburg on the ensuing kickoff, as a good return by Marr was erased by a block in the back penalty, forcing them to start at their own 11 yard line. This didn’t stop Mifflinburg though, as the offense woke back up and began to march back down the field, reaching the 26 yard line of Athens. Then Marr finally got a chance to redeem himself, as Snyder threw another pass to him, and this time he hauled it in, making a toe tapping catch in the end zone to pull Mifflinburg back within two points with 4 and a half minutes left.

Athens now had an opportunity to close out the game, as they once again went back to controlling the clock with designed runs by Davidson, which had worked so well all game long. Mifflinburg came up big defensively once again though, as on a 3rd and 1 near midfield, a fifth straight run by Davidson was met in the backfield for a three yard loss, forcing them to punt and giving Mifflinburg the ball back with a little over 2 and a half minutes left.

Unfortunately for Mifflinburg, they weren’t able to get very far. They already started backed up deep in their own territory, as on the punt Marr tried to make a cut as soon as the punt landed in his arms, but he slipped and fell at the 13 yard line. Then Mifflinburg was staring at a 3rd and 1 situation at their own 22, but a quarterback run by Snyder was denied for a loss of a yard, bringing up fourth down. Then with the game on the line, Snyder’s pass was deflected up in the air at the line of scrimmage by Brady Flynn and picked off by Jess Oldroyd, giving Athens the ball back and denying Mifflinburg’s chance at a game winning drive.

“We knew they weren’t going to quit, they were the district champs last year for a reason, we knew they were going to come out and fight,” coach Bradley said. “In years past, those are the scenarios where we would have quit, but this time we didn’t, and I’m so proud of our kids. We fought back, we made the adjustments, we scored twice in the fourth, and we got it done.”

The win extended Athens’ win streak up to ten consecutive games, improving their record to 11-1, and punched their ticket to the District 4 Class 3A title game, where they will make the trip to the Silver Bowl next week to face Mount Carmel. Mifflinburg, saw their eight game win streak come to an end, and their 2026 campaign concludes with a 9-3 record, one game short of playing in the district title game.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Quarter

Athens – 7-0 (5:31) – Connor Davidson 7 yard run (Zach Fisher kick)

2nd Quarter

Mifflinburg – 7-7 (10:04) – Brennen Snyder 1 yard run (Jaden Boyer kick)
Athens – 10-7 (3:28) – Zach Fisher 24 yard field goal

3rd Quarter

Mifflinburg – 10-14 (6:41) – Landon Moser 25 yard run (Jaden Boyer kick)

4th Quarter

Athens – 17-14 (11:41) – Connor Davidson 5 yard run (Zach Fisher kick)
Athens – 23-14 (7:38) – Connor Davidson 2 yard run (PAT failed)
Mifflinburg – 23-21 (4:28) – Jackson Marr 26 yard pass from Brennen Snyder (Jaden Boyer kick)

PLAYER STATS

ATHENS

Connor Davidson – 8/19, 72 YDS

Connor Davidson – 33 CAR, 170 YDS, 3 TD
Brendan Cooke – 11 CAR, 40 YDS

Kade Rowe – 3 REC, 37 YDS
Lucas Persun – 2 REC, 17 YDS
Gage Marmor – 1 REC, 15 YDS
Brendan Cooke – 2 REC, 3 YDS

MIFFLINBURG

Brennen Snyder – 12/23, 166 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT

Landon Moser – 19 CAR, 110 YDS, 1 TD
Seth Hartman – 3 CAR, 19 YDS
Brennen Snyder – 5 CAR, 5 YDS, 1 TD

Luke Brubaker – 3 REC, 60 YDS
Cameron Schneck – 3 REC, 38 YDS
Seth Hartman – 1 REC, 29 YDS
Jackson Marr – 2 REC, 19 YDS, 1 TD
Brady Threet, 1 REC, 12 YDS
Landon Moser – 2 REC, 8 YDS

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