High school football: Cousins Michael and Ryan Ptacek big part of Avon's success

Cousins Michael and Ryan Ptacek have been all over the field — and all over the box scores — for the Avon Eagles this season. Michael, a 5-foot-11, 170-pound senior, leads the team with 257 receiving yards and five touchdowns, while Ryan, a 6-2, 178-pound junior, has compiled 153 receiving yards and three touchdowns as Michael's primary backup, while also starting in the defensive secondary. "They are two of our top guys," Avon coach Mike Elder said. "We play six receivers and we feel really good about every single one of those guys. It's crazy. We've had years in the past where you're looking to target a special dude and we have six guys that are all really good. "We also have Michael's brother (Tommy), who is a sophomore running back and plays JV. He'll be a good player for us the next couple of years." Michael is the son of Mike Ptacek, former football coach and current athletic director at North Olmsted. "He grew up around the game," Elder said. "He's blessed with great speed, he's one of the fastest kids on our team, he runs precise routes, gets in and out of breaks and he's a coach's kid and you can tell he understands the game, understands coverages and is a very smart player to go with his athleticism. "He's a guy you would have heard a lot about last year as a junior but he had a season-ending injury in Week 2." Michael has done his best to make up for the lost time. During last weekend's 42-20 home win over Perrysburg, he hauled in four passes for 39 yards and a pair of touchdowns. "Our offense is definitely feeling good," he said. "We had a good week last week. The run game was there and our pass game was definitely there, too, so we're in a pretty good spot offensively heading into our first playoff game (tonight vs. Medina Highland). "We have a lot of guys that we've gotten the ball to this year, and we've had a lot of games where the starters haven't even played in the second half. But we have a lot of guys that we trust to get the ball to, but it does feel good to lead the team (in receiving yards and TDs)." Ryan has added a couple carries for 11 yards on the offensive side of the ball, leads the team with nine kickoff returns for 148 yards and has 23 tackles, two tackles for loss, two pass breakups and an interception on defense. He only caught one pass in last week's win, but it went for a 39-yard touchdown. "He is one of the top three fastest kids on our team, a track athlete as well, he's a little taller than Michael and he's a long jumper and a tremendous athlete," Elder said. "Ryan also plays safety for us and you have to be a pretty special athlete to play on both sides of the ball for us. As a safety he has some makeup speed, length and size that makes him very effective back there. But on the offensive side he's a threat to beat you over the top and then he has great size and length as well." Ryan spent the offseason working out with senior quarterback Niko Pappas in an effort to better their on-field timing and chemistry. "I'm great friends with my cousin but Niko and I were like best friends during the summer," Ryan said. "We could pass for brothers so we'd tell people that we were brothers so they'd let us stay on the field. We would just throw routes all the time, and if you look at some of the plays we've had on longer routes, they're pretty much timed up perfectly every time and that just comes from the repetition that we would do during the offseason. "I'm going to miss both of them next year for sure." The cousins grew up five minutes apart and began playing sports together before grade school. Ryan rotates in for Michael now, but during the first few games this season he also subbed in on the other side of the field, which gave the pair a few opportunities to be on the field at the same time. "I haven't really thought about it while I'm on the field, but I'll probably look back at it in a year or so and it'll be pretty cool," Ryan said. "I have pictures of us on the field together and it's kind of surreal because you think about the times that we were playing catch in our grandma's backyard when we were 5 years old and now we're on the varsity field together. "It's going to be the same thing next year when he's gone and I have my younger cousin playing running back. It's special, but when I'm on the field it's not what I'm thinking about. But after … yeah, it's pretty sweet." Michael is enjoying his final high school season playing with his family members. "It's awesome going to practice every day with the two of them," he said. "Growing up my whole life, playing football with them my whole life, to be on this stage playing with them … it's awesome. "I'm going to come back a lot next year and see as many games as I can watch." Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @ShaunBennettct on Twitter.