2019 High School Football Week 9: Avon remains undefeated, beats Olmsted Falls

OLMSTED TWP. — Avon countered Olmsted Falls' smash-mouth offense with some hard-hitting defense. The Eagles defensive front came up big in a number of key moments Friday evening, forcing two turnovers during a 24-14 win that locked up a share of the Southwestern Conference championship for the fourth straight year. Avon (9-0, 8-0) also clinched a home playoff game in the Division II, Region 6 playoffs, according to JoeEitel.com, and has a chance to win the SWC outright should it defeat Amherst in Week 10. The Bulldogs fell to 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the conference but control their destiny for a playoff spot in Region 6. "The story they're writing about themselves is pretty special and I'm very proud of them," Avon coach Mike Elder said. "We have six starters lost for the year and then some guys were in and out of the lineup and lost guys tonight in the middle of this game. It's just been one of those years where guys have had to step up. "Nobody is going to feel sorry for Avon, including Avon, but it does take an emotional toll when you lose your friends and guys who have done all the work we do in the offseason. It's why I get a little frustrated when people take it for granted because this is really hard to accomplish." The first half went just about how Olmsted Falls would have drawn it up. The Bulldogs scored on their opening drive — looking crisp in rattling off runs of 30 and 39 yards — and limited Avon to three true drives (the Eagles ran out the half with a minute left backed up inside their 5-yard line). There was just one problem: Avon made the most of its opportunities with two touchdowns while the Bulldogs couldn't add to their early lead. Olmsted Falls put together a beautiful second drive spanning 19 plans and 8:29, but it stalled at the Avon 18-yard line when a 2-yard loss on first down put the Bulldogs in a hole they couldn't recover from. The 26-yard field goal attempt by Jake Politowski sailed left of the upright. Eight plays later, Avon running back Devon Hunter had his second touchdown of the half, giving the Eagles their first lead at 14-7. "When we execute our offense, it's tough to stop," Olmsted Falls coach Tom DeLuca said. "I think you can talk to any coach (and they'll say) it's really hard to stop when we're starting to click and getting the reads correct. We came out and did a great job on the first drive, as you should. The first drive should be a good, crisp drive and we had a big run there to set things up. That was a good thing." The Bulldogs piled up 195 rushing yards in the first half — also their total offense — to Avon's 173 total yards, 93 rushing. The Eagles managed to right the ship at halftime as their ground game got going. Hunter only carried the ball nine times in the first half thanks largely to an Olmsted Falls offense that kept him on the sidelines. But he made up for lost time in the second half as he finished with 27 carries for 210 yards and a third touchdown. "I think we just came out ready to play in the second half," Hunter said. "They scored first, but after that we were ready to play. I think our whole team, anyone on our team, could fill this spot. I'm just happy to be out here and have the opportunity to do anything." Avon's defense was the difference. It limited Olmsted Falls to 87 rushing yards in the second half and came up with two turnovers. The first put an end to what looked like a promising drive by the Bulldogs, who were trying to cut the deficit back to one score after Avon took a 17-7 lead with a field goal on its opening drive of the half. However, Olmsted Falls botched a pitch back and Avon's Mike Laub came up with the fumble. While the ensuing Eagles drive resulted in a punt, Avon's Niko Pappas intercepted quarterback Charlie Ciolek three plays later after the defensive line shut down the running attack to put the Bulldogs in a third-and-9. Hunter scored his third touchdown five plays later, accounting for 34 yards on a 33-yard scoring drive. Quarterback Danny Zeh was sacked for a 2-yard loss and Joey Lance accounted for the only other yard on the drive. "Nobody in the entire conference runs an offense like this," Avon senior defensive lineman Joe Svec said. "It's basically starting from scratch on Monday and working till Thursday to get right. It's always a challenge doing this because it's completely out of the ordinary. Our scout team was amazing this week. They stepped up to the challenge in simulating their offense so our defense could go in there with a good look." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeneyCT on Twitter. Avon 24, Olmsted Falls 14 Avon 7 7 3 7 — 24&emsp;&emsp; Clearview 7 0 0 7 — 14&emsp;&emsp; Scoring OF — Charlie Ciolek, 7 run (Jake Politowski kick) A — Devon Hunter, 14 run (Nathanial Vakos kick) A — Hunter, 1 run (Vakos kick) A — Vakos, 26 field goal A — Hunter, 3 run (Vakos kick) OF — Stephen Ellis, 73 run (Politowski kick) Team statistics OF&emsp;&emsp;A &emsp;&emsp; 12&emsp;&emsp;16 &emsp;&emsp;First downs 10&emsp;&emsp;12 &emsp;&emsp;— by rushing 1&emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;— by passing 1&emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;— by penalty 282&emsp;&emsp;227 &emsp;&emsp;Yards rushing 25&emsp;&emsp;115 &emsp;&emsp;Yards passing 307&emsp;&emsp;342 &emsp;&emsp;Total offense 7/1&emsp;&emsp;Passes att./comp. 15/7 1&emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;Intercepted by 2/1&emsp;&emsp;2/2 &emsp;&emsp;Fumbles/lost 5/50&emsp;&emsp;5/45 &emsp;&emsp;Penalties/yards Individual statistics RUSHING — (A) Devon Hunter 27-210, Joey Lance 1-19, Niko Pappas 1-15, Danny Zeh 3-(-6), Mike Matlak 2-(-11). (OF) Stephen Ellis 11-141, Alec Wall 14-83, Andrew Parkowski 11-28, Anthony Argenziano 3-15, Charlie Ciolek 4-11, Keegan Skoczen 3-4. PASSING — (A) Zeh 7-15-115-0-0. (OF) Ciolek 1-6-25-0-1, Wall 0-1-0-0-0. RECEIVING — (A) Lance 1-58, Hunter 2-40, Tommy Purcell 2-17. (OF) Parkowski 1-25, Wall 1-0.