H.S. Football: Avon goes on road, runs right through Wadsworth

WADSWORTH — At the start of the Division II, Regional 6 semifinal Friday, Avon found itself in an unfamiliar situation. For the first time in coach Mike Elder's tenure, the Eagles were facing a true road playoff environment. By the end of the night, however, Avon was once again headed to the regional final, a position with which it has become very well-acquainted. Avon 42, Wadsworth 21. The Eagles are in the regional final for the ninth straight season and will face Highland on Friday at Brunswick. The Hornets beat North Ridgeville 48-0. Avon eliminated Highland from the playoffs the last two seasons. The game did not get off to a perfect start for the Eagles, as they opened with the ball and quickly went three-and-out. They were still able to land the first blow when Jairel Fenton jumped Brysen Hall's second pass of the game and took the interception 46 yards to the end zone to put Avon up 7-0. "I was outside leverage, so I had a lot of space to break on the ball," Fenton said. "I just had to catch it, really. I just knew I had to make a play to get my team started." The Grizzlies responded with a touchdown drive, as Hall led them down the field quickly and found Luke Maddox for a 21-yard score. Avon went three-and-out again on its second drive, but the defense was there to pick up the slack with a fourth-down stop. Strangely enough, what finally got the Eagles offense kick-started was quarterback Blake Elder coming out of the game for a few plays after taking a big hit near the end of the first quarter. Backup Trevor Maly entered and picked up the Eagles' first first down of the game with his legs, and even though Elder returned to the game by the end of the drive, they kept it on the ground and Cam Wendell punched it in. "We thought going into this game that the physicality was our advantage," Mike Elder said. "We lined up in some heavy sets and we were able to lean on these guys. We've got some good backs that were able to do a good job in that, and then Trevor Maly, as a wildcat, came in and gave us a big spark today." That drive set the tone for the second quarter, as the Eagles defense held the Grizzlies to two more empty possessions and the offense continued to dominate on the ground, with Quiante' Smith finding the end zone twice in the period to put the Eagles up 28-7 and in firm command of the game. "I just put my head down," Smith said. "I think of everything I learned in film throughout the week and just do what my coaches asked me to do and get the job done for my team." Wadsworth did find some offense late in the first half with Hall hitting Maddox once again to cut into the Avon lead right before halftime, but Hall was then intercepted on the opening drive of the second half. The Eagles turned it over on downs on the ensuing possession after a drop in the end zone on third down, but the defense stepped up one more time to force a punt, and the Eagles all but put away the game with a long touchdown drive. "The Avon defense is the real deal," Elder said. "Those guys were awesome tonight." Wadsworth was averaging 45.8 points coming into the matchup, but Avon held it to 14 offensive points, with one of Wadsworth's touchdowns coming on a kick return. The Eagles run defense, in particular, was exceptional, holding the Grizzlies to 72 rushing yards, 20 of which came on one play during the Grizzlies' second drive. With Highland, another opponent that averages more than 40 points, coming up next week in the regional final, it is the perfect time for Avon's defense to be playing some of its best football of the season, and that's exactly what it did Friday. Contact Will Cunningham at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.