High school football: Key stop fuels Avon just before halftime

STRONGSVILLE — Trouble was brewing for Avon despite a 28-7 lead with just 1:02 left in the first half. The Eagles had just turned the ball over on their 22-yard line late in the opening half, breathing life into Olmsted Falls on Friday night at Pat Catan Stadium. "The story definitely was our defense, especially right before half," said Avon coach Mike Elder. "It's 28-7. We turn the ball over and they turned them away. They score there, they go in (to halftime) with momentum. They get the ball and they scored on that first drive (in the second half), so now it's 28-21 and it's nip-and-tuck." But the defense bailed out the offense with a key stop and Avon moved on with a convincing 49-21 win over the Bulldogs. It was the Eagles' 11th straight win over Olmsted Falls. Avon will meet Toledo Central Catholic on Friday. Central downed top-seed Highland 23-20. "I was worried about stopping those guys," Elder said of the Bulldogs. "You've seen what they've done to the teams that have played them." Falls (10-3) runs the triple option to near perfection but it's an offense designed to play from ahead. Once the Bulldogs fell behind early, it had to rely on the arm of Charlie Ciolek. He passed for 166 yards and three touchdowns by completing 13 of 24 attempts. "We wanted to keep (Ciolek) in the pocket because he's good on the run," said senior linebacker Joe Roesch. "He threw two touchdowns on the run. We tried to keep him in the pocket, make them throw the ball, stop the run. We just got the job done." Olmsted Falls' running attack managed only 166 yards. Rocco Conti had 55 yards on 12 carries but he entered with 1,400 yards on 171 attempts. Avon controlled the run, the clock and in the end, the game. "We spent the whole week preparing," said Roesch, who made several big stops. "We primed for their running back, No. 44, Rocco. He's a good running back. We know that so we watched our film, made our new checks, hit our new queues and when they made big plays, we just got ready for the next one." The Eagles scored on four straight drives to open the game with a 28-7 lead. "They won the toss and they deferred," Elder said. "I thought there was a lot of pressure on us to drive and get into the end zone. You don't want to get behind against this team. They're just too good and then they'll grind you. Us getting up was a big deal." "We knew going into the game the team that would have the most success stopping the run was going to win the game," said Olmsted Falls coach Tom DeLuca. "That proved to be the fact." Avon rushed for 275 yards, with 132 coming from Jakorian Caffey, 75 from quarterback Sam DeTillio and 66 from Gavin Ehrhardt. "Defense deserves an equal amount of credit to the efficient offense," Elder said. "(Olmsted Falls) made it 28-14 but it took about six and half, seven minutes. That was good for us." It's the second time this year Avon has beaten Falls. The first time around, the Eagles trailed 29-21, going into the fourth quarter, but rallied to win 41-29. "(Falls) is a really good team," said Elder. "The score's not indicative of how close these two teams are, but we were better than them. We're glad to get the win." "It means a lot," said Roesch. "Another week together with all my brothers, having fun." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.