High school football: Avon pushes Hoban to limit before coming up just short in state semifinals

PARMA — Mike Elder stood in front of his team and fought back the tears. He was heartbroken for his Avon Eagles after another gut-wrenching loss to Akron Hoban at Byers Field on Friday night in the Division II state semifinals. Hoban beat the Eagles again, this time 17-14, to advance to play unbeaten Massillon for a state championship next week. It's the fifth time the Knights have ended Avon's season. The Eagles dug in against a team with nine players either going Division I or having commitments and offers to Division I schools and nearly pulled off the impossible. Avon had Hoban on the ropes at 14-3 with 8:17 left in the third quarter after Jakorion Caffey scored from 6 yards out after breaking off a 67-yard run to set it up a play earlier. "I'm so proud of them," Elder said. "You have to credit your opponent. They're really good but so are we. We just didn't capitalize on a couple big moments in the game where we needed to. "I'm just sad for our players and coaches and how hard they worked. They deserved it. We came into this game expecting to win, even with a backup quarterback. That speaks volumes for our kids. Their belief and how hard they work." Avon's defense — as it's done all year long — found a way to keep Hoban off the board on the first drive of the night and turned the tables on the Knights. Hoban drove 57 yards to Avon's 5-yard line but a couple of false starts and a terrific stand forced the Knights to try a 27-yard field goal, which missed. The Eagles forced a three-and-out on Hoban's next series and surprised the Knights with a 63-yard scoring drive with sophomore backup quarterback Blake Elder completing three huge passes — the final one a 17-yard touchdown strike to everybody's favorite target, Matt Maxey. Owen Warrick's point after made it 7-0, only the second time all year Hoban was behind in a game. The first was its only loss to Division I power St. Edward. Avon's Connor Rowlison intercepted a pass on Hoban's next series and ran it back inside the 5-yard line but a holding penalty pushed the ball back and the Eagles couldn't convert the opportunity. As it was, Hoban managed only a 25-yard Jeremy Hammell field goal to close out the first half. Avon held a 7-3 halftime lead and when Caffey broke free for his longest run of the night, the Eagles appeared primed for a big, big upset. "Our ultimate goal was to get here and to finish," said Caffey, who finished his brilliant career with 112 yards on 16 carries. "We came up short. We threw everything we had at them. I'm just glad to be able to fight with my team every day." Hoban's three-prong running attack came to fruition after that. Xavier Williams bolted for 108 yards on just eight carries, Caleb Jones added another 71 on 13 tries and Braylon Feister had 50 on 10 attempts. Quarterback Tylan Boykin slipped and darted his way for 45 more. Williams scored on a 39-yard run with 2:18 to play in the third quarter and Jones plunged in for a 2-yard score with 10:17 left to take the lead. It stood up in spite of a last-ditch effort by the Eagles offense that fell short when Warrick's 42-yard field goal attempt fell short with just five seconds left. "Coach Elder's one of the best coaches in the state of Ohio," Hoban coach Tim Tyrrell said. "It's one of the best teams in the state of Ohio. When I think Division II football, it's Hoban, Massillon and Avon. Coach Elder's a great coach and I have a ton of respect for him. My hat goes off to him. They're always here." Avon's last drive started on its own 25 with just under two minutes to play. Blake Elder hooked up with Grant Barr for three first-down pass plays to get the ball into Hoban territory. A holding call on the Knights put the ball on the 26 with just 37 seconds left. "Blake smashed his hand on the play and we tried a draw (to Caffey) but they didn't buy it," said Elder on the sequence following the holding call. "I was hoping Jakorion could get us closer. We knew it was the far end of (Warrick's) range. It's not fair to put him in that situation but we thought we had a chance. "We were in our two-minute drill. We're well-prepared. We work that all the time. We knew what plays we wanted to run. Blake made some great throws, guys got open. Our offensive line held up. (Blake's) hand swelled up when he got caught between two helmets on a play there. Hindsight is 20-20. Right now, I'm mad at my (draw) play call." Elder has had nothing but high praise for his seniors. They kept inching closer and closer to the grand prize — a state championship — or at least a shot at one. "I really thought we had the better team," he said. "It's been day-by-day a straight grind," said Luke Hamilton, the Eagles' 6-foot-6, 300-pound senior offensive tackle. "We knew we had the guys to go this far and further. A couple things didn't go our way that we wish would have. Inching closer just means all the seniors leaving knowing we only lost by three. It hurts because we know we were this close to that state chip and getting over the hump." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Hoban 17, Avon 14 Hoban&emsp;0&emsp;3&emsp;7&emsp;7&emsp;—&emsp;17Avon&emsp; 0&emsp;7&emsp;7&emsp;0&emsp;—&emsp;14 Scoring A — Tyler Kaufmann, 17 pass from Blake Elder (Owen Warrick kick)H — Jeremy Hammel, 25 field goalA — Jakorion Caffey, 6 run (Warrick kick)H — Xavier Williams, 39 run (Hammel kick)H — Caleb Jones, 2 run (Hammel kick) Team statistics&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;H &emsp;&emsp;&emsp; AFirst downs &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; 16 &emsp;&emsp; 14— by rushing &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; &emsp;12 &emsp;&emsp;&emsp; 4— by passing &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; 3 &emsp; &emsp;&emsp; 9— by penalty &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;1Yards rushing &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; 58 &emsp;&emsp; 127Yards passing &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; 278 &emsp;&emsp; 141Total offense &emsp;&emsp; 336 &emsp;&emsp; 268Passes att./comp. &emsp;&emsp; 15/7 &emsp;&emsp;29/13Intercepted by &emsp;&emsp; 1 &emsp; &emsp;1Fumbles/lost &emsp;&emsp; 2/0 &emsp;&emsp; 2/0Penalties/yards &emsp;&emsp; 7/65 &emsp;10/69 Individual statistics RUSHING — (H) Xavier Williams 8-108, Caleb Jones 13-71, Brayton Feister 10-50, Tylan Boykin 10-45, Elbert Hill 1-4, Ryan Burns 1-0. (A) Jakorion Caffey 16-112, Matt Maxey 3-8, Blake Elder 2-5, Tyler Kaufmann 3-2, Gratn Barr 1-0, Team 1-(-8).PASSING — (H) Boykin 7-15-58-0-0. (A) Elder 13-28-141-1-0, Canning 0-0-0-0-1.RECEIVING — (H) Feister 3-26, Jackson Callaway 3-20, Payton Cook 1-12. (A) Grant Barr 6-63, Maxey 4-52, Caffey 2-6, Ty Reerbohm 1-11, Cole Kepner 1-9.