H.S. Football Playoffs: Avon one win from repeat state championship after impressive rout of Walsh Jesuit

AKRON — Things couldn't have started any worse for Avon on Friday night at InfoCision Stadium. They couldn't have finished any better. Avon is one win from a second straight state championship. The Eagles gave up an opening kickoff return of 95 yards and never blinked. Avon scored the next 38 points to secure a date in the state final Thursday against Cincinnati Anderson, the team it beat a year ago. "It didn't go well early on," coach Mike Elder said. "Shoot, we had the kickoff returned for a touchdown. That's a great player (Milan Parris) that took it to the house. That's the storm we talk about all the time. After that, I thought our kids showed a lot of mental toughness." They showed it quickly. Avon's defense stopped Walsh on a fourth down and scored three plays later to tie the game. That would be a recurring theme for the night, stopping the Warriors time after time in crucial situations. "There is one moment left," Elder told his team following the game. He got win No. 215 in his 18 years at Avon, setting the county record. "I'm just excited for these kids," Elder said. "We talk about the journey through the playoffs. Yeah, you're trying to win regional championships, you're trying to make a run at the state championship but what we're really trying to do at Avon is play for another week together." Avon will do just that after bouncing back from that horrible start. Its defense gets the lion's share of the credit, starting with senor Caden Clapham, who picked off a throw at the 2-yard line and ran it all the way back to completely flip the script on Walsh Jesuit and send the Eagles soaring. Walsh Jesuit went for it on seven fourth downs and only converted one ... and it later turned into a fourth-down failure. "We knew we'd have to be ready for fourth down," linebacker Ryan Stolarski said. "We went out there and executed the best we could." By halftime the lead was 23-7, and even when the Eagles failed on their first possession of the second half, Walsh Jesuit never got into any offensive rhythm. "We knew what it would take," defensive end Lance Dawson said. "We had to stop their running back because every team in Ohio likes to run the ball." Grant Barr, who played more defense than he's played all year, made his only catch of the night a big one. Barr, as he's done all year, made a catch near the end zone on a well-defended pass from Blake Elder to score and make it 29-7 with 6:13 left in the third quarter. Elder threw for 197 yards and three touchdowns — the others going to tight end Killian Haessig near the end of the first half and to Fin Jerdonek, who led Avon with six receptions for 101 yards. Avon also rushed for 127 yards. Walsh Jesuit's Marty Tobin rushed for 107 yards but it took 25 carries to get there. Parris, headed to the Miami Hurricanes next year, ran the opening kick back and caught four passes but he was hounded all night by Clapham, Barr and Jairel Fenton. Avon enjoyed its Thanksgiving and is looking forward to another week together. Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Avon 38, Walsh Jesuit 7 Walsh&emsp;7&emsp;0&emsp;0&emsp;0&emsp;—&emsp;7 Avon&emsp;7&emsp;16&emsp;12&emsp;3&emsp;—&emsp;38 W—Mylan Parris 95 kick return (Freddie Marcell kick) A—Cam Wendell 1 run (Jensen Petro kick) A—Caden Clapham 98 interception return (Petro kick) A—Petro 27 field goal A—Killian Haessig 18 pass from Blake Elder (kick failed) A—Grant Barr 38 pass from Elder (pass failed) A—Fin Jerdonek 28 pass from Elder (pass failed) A—Petro 35 field goal Team statistics &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;A&emsp;W First downs&emsp;15&emsp;10 — by rushing&emsp;8&emsp;5 — by passing&emsp;6&emsp;5 — by penalty&emsp;1&emsp;0 Yards rushing&emsp;127&emsp;132 Yards passing&emsp;197&emsp;91 Total offense&emsp;324&emsp;223 Passes att./comp.&emsp;17/10&emsp;19/8 Intercepted by&emsp;3&emsp;1 Fumbles/lost&emsp;1/1&emsp;0/0 Penalties/yards&emsp;4/35&emsp;8/80 Individual statistics RUSHING—(A) Quiante' Smith 7-43, Cam Wendell 12-41, Trevor Maly 1-2, Michael Colburn 8-25, Blake Elder 3-8. (W) Marty Tobin 25-107, Carlos Smith 3-15, David Ternosky 10-8, Milan Parris 1-2.PASSING—(A) Elder 10-17-197-3-1. (W) Ternosky 8-19-91-0-3. RECEIVING—(A) Grant Barr 1-38, Fin Jerdonek 6-101, Killian Haessig 1-18, Caden Clapham 1-39, Dylan Luker 1-9. (W) Parris 4-53,, Cambell Lann 1-7, Kian McHugh 2-29, Vinnie Courtad1-2.