High school football: Defense saves day for Avon in win over Canton McKinley

AVON — It was all about the defense. On a night when Avon turned the ball over three times and committed 13 penalties, the defense came up with a number of big stops in a 21-14 non-league win over Canton McKinley at Mark Walhberg Chevrolet Stadium. The Eagles (2-0) sacked Canton McKinley's Kam Montgomery seven times, including twice on the Bulldogs' final drive of the game after they recovered an onside kick near midfield with 1:30 to play. "The defense was firing on all cylinders tonight. You love to see that energy," Avon senior defensive lineman Sam Toniolo said. "The onside kick was unexpected, but we just had to do what we had to do to seal the game." Toniolo had the final sack of Montgomery with 56 seconds left on third-and-18. The Eagles briefly had a two-touchdown lead when Tyler Kaufmann scored on a 16-yard run to give Avon the first points of the second half with 2:47 left in the fourth quarter. Owen Warrick's extra point made the score 21-7. Little more than a minute later McKinley (1-1) answered with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Montgomery to DeeJay Britt to make it 21-14. They were the Bulldogs' first points since the first quarter. "Our defense won us this game. You've got to bag an ugly one every now and then," Avon quarterback Nolan Good said. Good had an uneven performance against a feisty McKinley defense. He threw for 323 yards and two touchdowns but also threw three interceptions, two of which came deep in Bulldogs territory. "I didn't have the best game, but the defense gave us chance after chance and kept us in the game," Good said. "Without them we are literally not winning this game." McKinley scored first on a 9-yard Montgomery-to-Darius Hill touchdown pass. The Eagles answered with a Cole Kepner 14-yard touchdown catch from Good with 5:29 to play in the half. Avon took the lead just before the half when Good connected with Grant Barr on a 39-yard scoring strike. On a night when the Avon running game was held to 99 yards, wide receiver Matt Maxey was the offensive hero with 10 receptions for 161 yards, including receptions of 34 and 30 yards in the second half. "Matt is probably the most underrated receiver in the state of Ohio," Good said. "He can make every single play and run every single route. insanely fast. He has a mentality like no other." While the Bulldogs only turned over the ball once, they were left to wonder what could have been after committing 18 penalties that cost them 165 yards and negated a touchdown and a number of big returns. Wide receiver Xavier Harris was Montgomery's favorite target with five catches for 95 yards. Avon's defense held the Bulldogs to 31 yards rushing. "If you're a defensive coach and you love a defensive battle, you love that game. If you're an offensive guy, you're disappointed and you want to get better," Avon coach Mike Elder said. "We scheduled St. Ignatius, Canton McKinley and Glenville back-to-back to start the season. To be in those games we can do nothing but grow and learn from the experience. "The one thing I liked about our team is they continued to battle and fight through adversity offensively." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.