High school football playoffs: Avon begins trek to defending second straight title

Avon is prepared to kick off its pursuit of a third consecutive Division II state championship tonight when the third-seeded Eagles host 11th-seeded Cleveland Rhodes in a Region 6 quarterfinal. After a rocky 1-2 start against a rugged non-league schedule, Avon (8-2) hits the field against the Rams (7-4) on a seven-game winning streak. "We've been preparing for the playoffs all season," junior linebacker Adrian LaBianca said. "We've all grown exponentially comparing to where we've been at the first three weeks. I think we're definitely prepared for these upcoming weeks." With 42 tackles, three for a loss, two pass breakups and an interception, LaBianca joins senior linebacker Nathan Peters in anchoring the middle of the defense. Nowhere has the exponential growth and preparation been more apparent than on the defensive side of the ball. After giving up more than 40 points in back-to-back losses to Pine-Richland (Pennsylvania) and Upper Arlington, Avon is averaging 14.4 points allowed during the winning streak. The 43-22 loss to the Golden Bears in Week 3 was the Eagles' first loss to an Ohio team since a 17-14 defeat to Archbishop Hoban in the state semifinals in 2023. Particularly impressive is the 26 points allowed in the final four regular-season games against Midview (56-12), Amherst (45-7), Avon Lake (27-0) and Elyria (55-7). "We've played a lot faster," senior safety Bryce Chura said. "We've been tackling a lot better as the year has gone on. We're a lot more assignment-sound. We've been doing a lot of things better than we were at the beginning of the year." Chura is a multifaceted safety who can play the run and pass with 39 tackles, three pass breakups, two interceptions and a forced fumble. Fellow safety Cody Canning (42 tackles, four pass breakups, one interception, three fumble recoveries, one forced fumble) and corners Jairel Fenton (37 tackles, two for losses, three pass breakups, one forced fumble) and Fin Jerdonek (two interceptions) team with Chura to make the secondary a strength. A significant reason for the improvement of the defense is the growing familiarity with each other, as Avon worked new players with expanded responsibilities into the lineup. "We have a lot of young bucks that hadn't put their hand or foot on the ground on the varsity line," senior defensive end Nolan Robke said. "The first three weeks, those were really tough teams and they showed us that we have to really work hard to be better. "The young bucks that got the opportunity have gotten better and better every week. That's given us a lot of depth and a lot of guys that want to play great football." Robke has led the defensive line that also features senior Ryan Wysocki and junior Josh Kelly with 18 tackles, eight for a loss, 15 quarterback pressures and five sacks. Coach Mike Elder credited his seniors with helping to right the ship after the 1-2 start. He also had praise for defensive coordinator Jared Cecchetti for getting the players to minimize missed assignments and missed tackles. "I told the seniors how proud I am of them from the perspective that we started the season 1-2 after winning back-to-back state championships and that brought a lot of critics and naysayers out of the woods," Elder said. "We talked at that time about how things are never as bad as they seem or as good as they seem. "Our goal was to be playing our best football at playoff time and we're doing that right now." Coming off a 24-22 upset of sixth-seeded Lakewood in the first round, Rhodes has a number of athletes on offense who will test the Eagles' discipline and technique to eliminate momentum-swinging plays. "We have to limit the big plays," Chura said. "They have some playmakers on their team. If we can take away the big plays over our heads in the secondary or runs, then I think we should be good. "We all know we're good enough, but we're going to play a lot of good teams," Chura said. "I think it's just going to come down to us executing the little things on the defensive side. We know we have to play a really sound game each week as we keep advancing." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.