H.S. Football: Avon pulls away from Midview after close first half

EATON TWP. — They're called backbreakers, and Avon has been dishing them out regularly for a couple of decades. The Eagles won their 11th in a row from Midview on Friday, 56-12, but the final score didn't reflect how close the game was in the first half before Avon broke away. It was the 38th straight Southwestern Conference victory for the Eagles, dating to the fourth week of the 2021 season when Avon Lake won 30-24. Avon leads the series with Midview 19-13, going back to the Lorain County Conference days in 1996. The key sequence Friday saw the Middies (3-4, 0-4) knocking on the door with a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line, trailing just 21-12 with under three minutes to play in the first half. The Eagles (5-2, 4-0) stopped Midview on two running plays and forced a fumble on the third, with Avon senior Cody Canning recovering. "Oh my God," said coach Mike Elder, 221-34 in his 20 years at Avon. "That would have made it a one-score game at halftime and you never know what happens." What happened was Avon's Fin Jerdonek, as he's done throughout his career, was around to make big plays. He had already returned an interception for a score to start the game and caught a 30-yard touchdown from Casey Birth to push the lead to 21-12 with 8:31 left in the second quarter. Then he turned a short toss from Trevor Sykora into a 37-yard touchdown to break Midview's sprit with 1:13 left in the half to make it 28-12. Avon's drive was 90 yards in eight plays, with Sykora finding 6-foot-4, 207-pound tight end Grayden Beerbohm for 22 yards to start the drive. Dean Andress broke free for a couple of big runs before Jerdonek slipped through the defense to score. "My open-field vision, I harp on that," said Jerdonek, who has 31 catches this season for 655 yards and 10 touchdowns. "Trying to make people miss and get some yards when my team needs them the most. That little screen play is usually the money play." Avon got the ball right back on an interception by Canning and ran out the first-half clock, knowing it would receive the second-half kickoff. "In the second half, we went tempo and got the separation we needed," said Elder. That separation came quickly from senior Michael Colburn. Avon was called for holding on the kickoff to start at its 7-yard line. Colburn was up to the task. "We were backed up from the kickoff return," Colburn said. "When the first play was a run, I thought, 'hey, I have a chance to go 95.' I saw the hole. I didn't see anyone on the right side. I made a few moves and jigged a defender out and just ran." Colburn, who finished with 125 yards on just six carries and scored three times, put on the afterburners and ran away from the defenders trying to chase him down. It gave Avon a 35-12 cushion following Jude Theibert's fifth successful point-after try. Two more interceptions — by Adrian LaBianca and Luke Pavey — set up two more scores, with Pavey getting the opportunity to score one himself. Sophomore Lincoln Clapham took a swing pass from sophomore Colin Fox from a yard away to finish the scoring with 3:03 left. For Midview coach Jack Armstrong, the score didn't reflect what could have been. Midview played toe-to-toe with the Eagles throughout the first half. Joshua Schofield answered Jerdonek's first score with a pick-six and sophomore Kellen DiSimone continues to impress with his pass-catching abilities from the tight end position. DiSimone, a three-sport letterman, caught seven passes for 68 yards and a breathtaking, one-hand grab of a touchdown that pulled the Middies to within 14-12 early in the second quarter. "There's a lot of positives to take away from this game," said Armstrong. "This is the first time in a long time where I felt at halftime we were in the game (against Avon). A couple times we shot ourselves in the foot and you can't do that against a team like Avon, but there's definitely a positive vibe from the team. The next three weeks are very important for us. "(DiSimone) is special. He's going to continue to get better. Not only is he a great football player but a great kid. I'm excited for his future." Avon hosts Amherst next week while Midview is at Elyria. Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Avon 56, Midview 12 Avon&emsp;14&emsp;14&emsp;21&emsp;7&emsp;—&emsp;56 Midview&emsp;6&emsp;6&emsp;0&emsp;0&emsp;—&emsp;12 Scoring A — Fin Jerdonek, 47 interception return (Jude Theibert kick) M — Joshua Schofield, 41 interception return (kick failed) A — Michael Colburn, 10 run (Theibert kick) M — Kellen DiSimone, 14 pass from Brennen Newton (kick blocked) A — Jerdonek, 30 pass from Casey Birth (Theibert kick) A — Jerdonek, 37 pass from Trevor Sykora (Theibert kick) A — Colburn, 93 run (Theibert kick) A — Colburn, 6 run (Theibert kick) A — Luke Pavey, 2 run (Landon Vega kick) A — Lincoln Clapham, 1 pass from Colin Fox (Vega kick)