High school football: Avon's defense ready to roll in rematch against Toledo Central Catholic in regional final

AVON — Rocco Conti had just ripped off a gain of 41 yards on Olmsted Falls' first play from scrimmage on the way to a Bulldogs' touchdown drive to open the regional semifinal game last Friday at Strongsville. Panic time for Avon? Finger-pointing? Blame? None of it. "No negative comments, just keep your head up and let's go," said senior safety Matt Fischer. "In playoffs, it's just a different game," said senior linebacker Cam Santee. "Different mindset. Every time something happens, you just have to rub it off and bounce back." "They're invested so much that when things aren't going well, the good thing for us is they'll never quit," said Mike Elder, Avon's longtime successful head coach. "They're going to want to know what they can do, what they can adjust." The Eagles' defense allowed Conti just 53 yards the rest of the game. Avon scored the next 45 points to win 45-7 and advance to tonight's regional final against another familiar foe in Toledo Central Catholic. "We just adjusted to their speed," said Avon defensive coordinator Jared Cecchetti. "It's hard to simulate what they do and they do it really well. Rocco's such a dynamic athlete — we were actually there and ready to go to make the tackle but we weren't set up for his athletic ability. It took us a series to get our feet underneath us in how well they run that. It's so hard to simulate in practice. The kids could see how fast they needed to get to their keys based off what they saw. "Realistically, everything goes to the kids. We didn't make any adjustments to our game plan. We made an adjustment to the speed." Avon had beaten Olmsted Falls earlier in the season 63-42. It had never lost to the Bulldogs. That may have been lingering in the back of the minds of the Eagles. "We just had to get our feet wet," Fischer said. "It was a playoff game against Falls. We had to get ourselves going a little bit. They took the first shot. We had to get our mind right and shut them down the rest of the game." Toledo Central Catholic offers another huge challenge. It's won 12 straight games since losing to Division I power St. Edward, 23-20, on opening night. Last year's playoff loss to the Eagles still stings for TCC. In that game, Avon forced four turnovers — two interceptions and two fumble recoveries — in a regional final victory. In overtime, the Eagles' Ethan Holbrook darted around the left side of Central's defense for a 2-point conversion and a heart-thumping 43-42 win over the Fighting Irish at Sandusky's Strobel Field. The stage is set for another classic battle at Firelands Health Stadium at Perkins High School. Both teams have plenty of experienced players back from last year's classic. Cecchetti has been diligently working on ways to stop the high-powered Fighting Irish, which, like Avon, average over 41 points a game. "They're super-talented," Cecchetti said. "We've got to make sure we've got guys in the right place and we get them early. We see some things on film that we hope we can do against them. In all reality, their quarterback (Ty'Waun Clark) and their running back (Chris Edmonds) are going to cause a lot of problems for us. If we aren't able to tackle them, it's going to be a long day for us but it's getting there fast and getting there early to make tackles and not be caught off guard and falling backwards where they get three, four, five yards every time." Clark is a dual threat. He has run for 676 yards and thrown for over 1,700, with 18 touchdowns and only four interceptions. Edmonds has totaled 1,711 on the ground and has scored 28 touchdowns. In last year's game, Edmonds finished with 288 yards on 37 carries, scoring three times. Clark threw for three touchdowns and 205 yards. "We know what we're up against," Elder said. "The margin of error gets smaller and smaller for the advance. I think our kids are battle-tested. They're going to be prepared. Coaches here do a good job of that." Cecchetti likes the intelligence of his defenders, especially Fischer, a three-year starter. "You can't give a value to them," said Cecchetti, who's been with Elder for 11 years. "Especially Matt Fischer at the secondary level. Matt Fischer gets our defense set up. He makes all of our checks. He gets the defense lined up and makes sure everybody fits in their right things. He's really the captain on the defense and how physical he is coming down making tackles. He's super-awesome." Fischer sad he spends about 45 minutes every day studying film of the upcoming opponent. "I think our big problem last year (with TCC) was tackling," he said. "This year, I figure we're way better. We're prepared and we're ready to go." "We have experience against a big line and a big back," Santee said. "I think that's what they have. If we can just shut that down, I feel like we'll come out on top. Our defense will succeed like we did last week." Both Fischer and Santee are proud of the Avon legacy and want to bring home a championship. They know it's one step at a time. "It's amazing," Fischer said. "These are my brothers, been playing with them since I was 10. We've been playing since then. It's awesome. The chemistry we have is unbelievable. We have 10 starting seniors. We're all pretty much best friends with each other. We know what we're doing and how good we are." Fischer, 5-foot-11, 186 pounds, leads the team in total tackles with 71½. He has two interceptions and a caused fumble. Santee (6-foot-3, 214 pounds) will play collegiately at Holy Cross. He has 35 total tackles with six for loss of yardage. "It's really special," Santee said. "Our senior class has a lot of talent. I feel like we've done a really good job over the season of keeping our heads down, working. We always know there's room for improvement." "Cam, his size and his physical ability, causes a lot of problems for a lot of people," Cecchetti said. "His length is a problem for people. It's really fun to watch those two play together. The amount that they understand on defense is ridiculous. Cam used to be a safety so he understands the back-end, he understands the front-end." "Coach Cecchetti is probably the best coach I've ever had," said Santee. "He's always going a 100 miles an hour, full of knowledge. He's always getting you juiced up. It feels like he's so devoted to his craft. You have to pay attention because in the game, that's when it really comes out and shows." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.