H.S. Football: Avon caps perfect regular season with shutout of archrival Avon Lake

AVON — It doesn't matter what's been won, everything is always on the line in a rivalry game. Avon entered Friday with the outright Southwestern Conference title and the No. 1 seed for the Division II, Region 6 playoffs already locked up, but it had plenty of motivation. It sent archrival Avon Lake a 45-0 message heading into the postseason. "It feels great," said junior running back Tyler Kaufmann, who led the Eagles with 94 yards and two touchdowns on three carries. "Coming in we knew we had a big task at hand. We had to win this game, we already knew we were SWC champs but that wasn't a factor. We knew they were going to play hard and we were going to play hard and we just came out with a victory." The Eagles (10-0, 7-0) completed their eighth undefeated regular season in the 17 years under coach Mike Elder, including a shortened 2020. Avon has won at least 10 games every season since 2010. Avon Lake (6-4, 4-3) will be in the Region 6 field, but needed to wait for the dust to clear to know its final seed. Avon has won six of the last seven meetings with Avon Lake, including the 2019 and 2020 Region 6 championship games. "Our defense just pitched a shutout against our rivals and that's outstanding," Elder said. "I don't think that's something that's been done in this rivalry, so that's the biggest story. Now it's the third season and our goal is to advance and win the state championship." Avon's defense absolutely smothered Avon Lake, holding the Shoremen to 15 yards in the first quarter and 40 for the game. Penalties killed Avon Lake, none bigger than the holding call that negated Anthony Benedict's 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that would have cut the Avon lead to three. "We've got to make some changes, clearly," Avon Lake coach Matt Kostelnik said. "We've been trending this way now for five weeks so we'll do something." The Eagles methodically drove down to the Avon Lake 7-yard line on their opening drive, but the Shoremen limited the damage to a field goal. Avon took a 10-0 lead on its next drive with a 16-yard run by Kaufmann. Instead on the kickoff touchdown, the Shoremen punted and Avon kept rolling. Nolan Good found Grant Barr for a 49-yard touchdown. Avon Lake punted and Kauffman added his second touchdown on a 73-yard run, giving the Eagles a 24-0 lead. Avon's defense capitalized with four turnovers to help secure a running clock. "We just called the right play," Barr said of his touchdown catch. "I was just thinking get to the end zone and don't get tackled. It's huge to be able to score in a big game like this." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.