High school football: Avon uses winning formula to stop Canton McKinley

CANTON — If you can run the ball and hold your opposition to a single touchdown, odds are you're going to win a lot of games. Avon displayed its recipe for success again Friday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium as it dominated Canton McKinley 28-7 in a non-league game. Behind the running of Cincinnati commit Jakorion Caffey, who had two touchdowns and 100 yards rushing for the second week in a row, and a defense that allowed only seven points for the second week in a row, there was little doubt from the first quarter that Avon was in control. "The story of the game was our defense," Avon coach Mike Elder said. "McKinley is big, strong, physical with playmakers everywhere, but we flew around and did a good job of holding down what I think is a good offense." The Eagles held McKinley to three first-half first downs while building a 14-7 halftime lead. Caffey got Avon (2-0) on the board first with an 11-yard touchdown run with 3:02 left in the first first quarter. The Bulldogs (1-1) scored their only points when Nino Hill capped an 11-play, 68-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that tied the game with 3:34 left before the half. Avon drove down and retook the lead with 31 seconds left in the half on a 26-yard Nolan Good-to-Cole Kepner touchdown pass. "This is a huge win," Good said. "They have some guys who are really fast, big and athletic and we knew we were going to have a challenge on our hands. The defense really stepped up, it would have been much more difficult to win without the effort they put in." Good didn't put up big numbers — 10-of-23 for 111 yards and the one touchdown — but was able to command the offense in a pressure-packed situation on the road and on the same field where the Cleveland Browns played the New York Jets in the Hall of Fame Game earlier this month. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play at the Hall of Fame Stadium, you can't take that for granted, you definitely want to come in and get a win," Good said. "This game gave me some confidence, I showed myself I can compete." Running behind a line that includes Michigan commit Luke Hamilton, Caffey has already proved what he can do. But he gave everyone a refresher course late in the game, carrying the ball on six of Avon's 11 fourth-quarter offensive plays and capping the night with a 5-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles their margin of victory. "It feels very good to run behind my offensive line with confidence, knowing I am going to gain 5 yards every play," said Caffey, who finished with 100 yards on 20 carries. "At the end of the game we were able to beat them with our run game." Junior Tyler Kaufmann made the most of his chance to run behind the stout line, breaking off a 29-yard touchdown, his first in a varsity game, in the third quarter. As good as Avon has been in the past two weeks, outscoring its opponents 77-14, it knows it will have to kick it up a notch next Friday when defending Division IV state champion Glenville comes to town. "We have a lot of work to do this week," Elder said. "We play Cleveland Glenville next week. Everyone knows who they are and the dynamic receivers they have. But if our kids continue to play hard and stick together, we're going to stack a lot of wins this year." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.