High school football: Avon puts up a fight, but still can't clear Hoban hurdle in state semifinals

PARMA — Mike Elder leaned against the south goalpost at Parma's Byers Field on Friday night contemplating another loss to Akron Hoban in the state semifinals. The Avon coach needed a little time before facing reporters after his Eagles suffered a heart-wrenching 31-24 loss to the Knights, who have won five of the last six Division II state championships and have eliminated the Eagles on four occasions. "We fully expected to win the game," Elder said. "We're disappointed. It's not about good games, it's about getting over the hump and expecting to win. The kids did that. "We just didn't make enough plays. We needed a couple more and we could have won the game." The Eagles had their 10-game winning streak stopped and their season ended at 12-3 after starting 2-2. Avon also lost to Hoban 30-6 in 2017, 42-7 in 2018 and 28-14 in 2020. Hoban moves on to another championship game Thursday at 11-3. Avon battled back from a 21-7 deficit to tie the game at 24 with 7:57 remaining in the game. Hoban, showing its championship stock, drove 64 yards in 10 plays — eight from its outstanding tailback Lamar Sperling — with 1:47 left to play to take the lead. Sperling had to make Avon's fans hold their collective breath every time he touched the ball. He was simply electrifying, finishing with a staggering 274 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns. "He's a good player, no question about it," Elder said. "They've got a lot of good players." Avon tried to answer but a questionable mark off on a Knights penalty left the crowd and Elder baffled on a fourth-down play that ended the Eagles' chances to pull another rabbit out of its hat like it did a week ago against Toledo Central Catholic. Sam DeTillio, who played played with the heart of a lion in trying to rally his team from behind, was sacked only to have Hoban called for defensive holding. That should have given Avon a fourth-and-1 from the Hoban 46 instead of a fourth-and-8 at its own 47. "That was frustrating," Elder said. "If you hold us in the secondary. They held us and we get sacked as a result of the hold but then they don't mark the ball off. The official on my sideline tells me it's fourth-and-1. I'm calling a play like its fourth-and-1. That's crucial. "No, 1, give me the explanation right away and No. 2, I don't think there is any way you can mark that off from the sack. "Is that the difference in the game? Probably not but it was a frustrating ending of what I thought was a game where people came out here and didn't want to throw flags." Avon scored first on a 12-yard DeTillio run to cap a nine-play, 80-yard drive on its second possession. The drive began after Hoban's Jayvian Crable fumbled through the end zone for a touchback to stop a promising drive. DeTillio passed and ran well, often picking up key yardage on improvised plays that stunned Hoban's defense. He racked up 76 yards on the ground but would have had more if not for a couple of sacks. He scored all three of Avon's touchdowns and he threw for 167 yards. "We're not used to coming back from behind," DeTillio said. "We had the fight in us. There was a couple mistakes early in the game. The defense got a couple stops that we didn't turn into points when we needed to." "Sam's a gutsy kid," Elder said. "I wouldn't want anyone else playing quarterback for us. He's a really intelligent guy. He's tough. He does everything you want him to do. "We're good on offense. We knew we could move the ball against these guys. What I'm going to kick myself for was the missed opportunities in the first half — the turnover and got behind the sticks the first drive of the game." "I would say we have the best offense in the state of Ohio," Avon senior Gavin Ehrhardt said. "Almost every possession we score, which is incredible against the defense that we played here in the playoffs. It's too bad that the outcome that happened, happened, but hopefully our offense can come back even better next year." Hoban scored 24 points in the second quarter. After falling behind 14-7, Avon fumbled the ball away to set up the Knights at the 47-yard line. One play is all it took as Avon's defense bit on play-action, leaving Rickey Williams wide open for a passing score with six minutes left in the half. The Eagles used a timeout late in the half hoping to get the ball back but Sperling broke off a 48-yard run to eventually set up a 43-yard field goal from Charlie Durkin that gave the Knights a 24-14 halftime lead. Durkin missed from 30 yards to start the second half and Avon moved the ball to the 24 where dependable Nathanial Vakos kicked a 41-yard field goal to slice the lead to 24-17. That seemed to give Avon's defense some spark as it came up huge on Hoban's next possession to give the ball back to the offense near midfield. Avon tied the game at 24 on a five-play, 51-yard drive that DeTillio finished with a 6-yard run. Vakos converted the point after to end his career with a state-record 158 straight makes. Following a failed onside kick, Hoban put the ball in Sperling's hands and he gained 51 of the 64 needed yards to give the Knights the win. "There's no margin for error against them with their offense," Elder said. "Their ability to pound the football at you. It just makes me proud of our kids. They go in there (at halftime) down 10 and they still find a way to battle back and give ourselves a chance at the end." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Scoring summary FIRST QUARTER AVON 7, ARCHBISHOP HOBAN 0. Sam DeTillio 12 run, Nathanial Vakos kick, 9:57. DRIVE: 10 plays, 80 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 5:59. KEY PLAYS: The Eagles established the run ontheir second drive wit DeTillio burning Hoban for a 12-yard gain. Jakorion Caffey followed that up with a 20-yard blast into Hoban territory and Gavin Ehrhardt converted a third down with a 7-yard gain. SECOND QUARTER AVON 7, ARCHBISHOP HOBAN 7. Shawn Parnell 3 pass from Jayvian Crable, Charlie Durkin kick, 9:57. DRIVE: 10 plays, 80 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 5:59. KEY PLAYS: Lamar Sperling accounted for 68 yards on the drive, including a third down conversion for 3-yards and a 30-yard run to put Hoban on the Avon 2-yard line.ARCHBISHOP HOBAN 14, AVON 7. Sperling 1 run, Durkin kick, 6:52. DRIVE: 6 plays, 74 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 1:17. KEY PLAYS: Crable was flushed out right and found nobody home, burning the Avon defense for a 54-yard run to the Eagles' 4. Sperling scored three plays later.ARCHBISHOP HOBAN 21, AVON 7. Rickey Williams 47 pass from Crable, Durkin kick, 6:00. DRIVE: 1 play, 47 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 0:07. KEY PLAYS: Ehrhardt fumbled after combining for 12 yards on two carries and the Knights made the Eagles pay immediately.ARCHBISHOP HOBAN 21, AVON 14. DeTillio 1 run Vakos kick, 0:47. DRIVE: 10 plays, 80 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 5:13. KEY PLAYS: DeTillio made three big plays, first a 16-yard run to the Hoban 46, then a 22-yard completion to Tim Conwell — who took a shot by Tysen Campbell, but still managed to hold onto the ball. DeTillio found Caffey on an underneath route for a 12-yard gain to take Avon into the red zone.ARCHBISHOP HOBAN 24, AVON 14. Durkin 43 field goal, 0:00. DRIVE: 5 plays, 54 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 0:47. KEY PLAYS: Despite not having any timeouts, Hoban managed to get into field-goal range thanks to Sperling's 48-yard run. The Eagles were penalized for an illegal substitution three plays later, which made Hoban's field goal try 5 yards shorter. THIRD QUARTER ARCHBISHOP HOBAN 24, AVON 17: Vakos 41 field goal, 0:32. DRIVE: 12 plays, 80 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 5:02. KEY PLAYS: DeTillio stepped up big on three straight plays, starting with a 13-yard pass to Ethan Holbrook on fourth-and-8 from the Avon 38. That was the first of three straight completions for a combined 45 yards that got the Eagles into the red zone. FOURTH QUARTER AVON 24, ARCHBISHOP HOBAN 24: DeTillio, 6 run, Vakos kick, 7:57. DRIVE: 4 plays, 51 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 1:32. KEY PLAYS: Every play on the drive went for a first down with DeTillio finding Caffey for a 12-yard gain, then rushing for 16 yards. Caffey took the Eagles into the red zone on a 12-yard carry.ARCHBISHOP HOBAN 31, AVON 24: Sperling 15 run, Durkin kick, 1:47. DRIVE: 10 plays, 64 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 6:10. KEY PLAYS: With the game on the line, Hoban turned to its Hoban 31, Avon 24 Hoban 0 24 0 7 — 31 Avon 7 7 3 7 — 24 SCORING A—Sam DeTillio 12 run (Nathanial Vakos kick) H—Shawn Parnell 3 pass from Javian Crable (Charlie Durkin kick) H—Lamar Spurling 1 run (Durkin kick) H—Rickey Williams 47 pass from Crable (Durkin kick) A—DeTillio 1 run (Vakos kick) H—FG Durkin 43 A—FG Vakos 41 A—Detillio 6 run (Vakos kick) H—Spurling 15 run (Durkin kick) TEAM STATISTICS &emsp; &emsp; H&emsp;&emsp;AFirst downs&emsp;&emsp; 18&emsp;&emsp;21 — by rushing&emsp;&emsp; 16 &emsp;&emsp;10 — by passing &emsp;&emsp; 2 &emsp;&emsp;10 — by penalty &emsp;&emsp; 0 &emsp;&emsp;1 Yards rushing &emsp;&emsp;392 &emsp;&emsp;148 Yards passing &emsp;&emsp;78 &emsp;&emsp;167 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;470 &emsp;&emsp;305 Passes att./comp. 6/5 &emsp;&emsp;21/14 Intercepted by &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 Fumbles/lost &emsp;&emsp; 2/1 &emsp;&emsp;1/1 Penalties/yards &emsp;&emsp; 5/44 &emsp;&emsp;7/60 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—(H) Lamar Sperling 29-274, Javian Crable 8-99, Markim McKinnie 2-3, Tysen Campbell 1-14, Caleb Jones 1-2. (A) Sam DeTillio 15-76, Jakorian Caffey 9-58, Gavin Ehrhardt 3-14. PASSING—(H) Crable 5-6-78-2-0. (A) DeTillio 14-21-167-0-0. RECEIVING—(H) Sperling 2-11, Brandon Edgerson 2-10, Rickey Williams 1-47. (A) Tim Conwell 4-41, Ethan Holbrook 3-42, Ehrhardt 3-39, Max Arnold 2-21, Daniel Colburn 1-18, Drew Lindsay 1-6.