H.S. Football: Avon wins decisively against Avon Lake

AVON — Lorain County's best rivalry added another chapter to the lore Friday night as Avon pulled away for a decisive 43-12 win over Avon Lake in Southwestern Conference play. Avon (8-1 overall, 7-0 in the SWC) has won the past four meetings and seven of the last eight to lead the series 15-10. The Eagles have outscored the Shoremen 172-43 over the past four years. Avon Lake, losers of three straight, slipped to an un-Shoremen-like 3-6 overall and 3-3 in the SWC. Blake Elder, son of Avon coach Mike, continued to shine brightly. He completed 14 of 15 passes for 346 yards and five touchdowns. Avon spotted Avon Lake a 6-0 lead off a fumble on its first possession but managed to overcome the early deficit and 93 yards in penalties to retain the "Silver Rail" trophy for another year. "I thought we executed on offense at a high level," said Coach Elder. "I don't think we punted, which is a big compliment to our offensive line and our quarterback and our receivers. It was just a complete offensive game. "Defense was challenged. (Avon Lake) did some good things on offense and made us work." Avon Lake, in addition to the early score off a turnover, had two drives end in Aiden Stewart field goals — one from 47 yards. Two other promising drives ended with an interception at the goal line and a turnover on downs. Avon's defense was solid in the scoring zone. "First off, congrats to Coach (Elder) again," said Avon Lake coach Matt Kostelnik. "It's a good football team. It's been the story of our season. Get stopped twice in the red zone and I don't care what anybody has to say, we throw the ball there with 12 seconds left (in the half). We don't have any timeouts left or any way to stop the clock. We had to take a chance there. The ball gets tipped." Avon's Caden Clapham picked off Dawson TenBrink's pass at the goal line to stop the Shoremen from scoring to end the first half. The Shoremen drove the second-half kick all the way to Avon's 3-yard line with a first down but couldn't punch it in, settling instead for another field goal by Stewart. Meanwhile, Elder's throws were on the money all night — particularly to Grant Barr and Fin Jerdonek. Those two finished with a pair of touchdowns each, compiling 221 yards between them. "I do feel that way, yes, sir," answered Barr when asked if he felt he could catch any pass in any situation. "Obviously there's stuff to work on. We can't be giving up turnovers. There were some routes I ran that weren't the best, but it was a good game overall." "Feels great to help my team out when I can," said Jerdonek. "I love this rivalry against Lake. I come out every year playing really hard just to beat them. We practice those situations to convert those third and fourth downs." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.