H.S. Football Playoffs: Avon cruises past Rhodes

AVON — There were no road bumps for Avon on Friday. The Eagles forced six turnovers in marching their way to a running clock during a 38-8 win against Rhodes in their Division II, Region 6 quarterfinal. "I thought our defense did a great job," Avon coach Mike Elder said. "We struggled to get into a rhythm on offense with some silly penalties. There's a lot of room for improvement, but Rhodes won seven games for a reason. They've got some good players on the defensive line, a kid committed to Kent State, and they gave us some problems tonight. We looked rusty on offense, like a team that hadn't played in a couple of weeks, and I'm not proud of that. But we'll get better." No. 3-seeded Avon (9-2) will face No. 2 Olmsted Falls (9-2) in a Region 6 semifinal next Friday. No. 11 Rhodes concludes its season at 7-5. Avon is making its 15th appearance in a regional semifinal in the last 16 years, reaching the regional final 12 times, including the past nine seasons. During that nine-year span, the Eagles have made the Division II semifinals eight times, with Toledo Central Catholic — the No. 1 seed in Region 6 — the only team to defeat Avon prior to the state tournament. This will be the sixth straight season Avon and Olmsted Falls have squared off in the postseason, with the Eagles ending the Bulldogs' season in the previous five meetings. Avon is 20-0 against Olmsted Falls under Elder. The Eagles have won their last 46 games against Southwestern Conference opponents — including 41 straight in the regular season — dating to Week 4 of 2021, a 30-24 loss to Avon Lake. The Shoremen also are the last team to defeat Avon prior to a regional final, doing so in the opening round of the 2016 playoffs. "We're going to enjoy another week together," Elder said. "We know nothing is guaranteed, but our goals are bigger than just getting to the final 16 right now. It should be a great football game next week." Avon limited Rhodes to 60 yards in the first half and just one completion, that came from the punter on a 13-yard trick play resulting in a first down. The Rams offense only recorded four first-half first downs and fumbled four times, losing three. Meanwhile, Avon's Nick Lombardy blocked a punt to start the game and recovered it for a 5-yard touchdown, giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead just 1:40 into the game. Most of Avon's offense came in the first half as quarterback Trevor Sykora completed 7 of 16 passes for 104 yards to four receivers. Fin Jerdonek was his favorite target, catching four passes for 46 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles recorded 12 first-half first downs and ran for 115 yards. "We had the block and I thought our kicking game looked good," Elder said. "Kickoff coverage, we worked really hard at it and I thought that looked good. So there are a lot of bright spots defensively and special teams-wise. This was a tough night (with the rain) to play offense in, but no excuses. We just have to get better. I don't think anybody in that room is going to be happy with what we did tonight and that's a credit to Rhodes." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. Avon 38, Rhodes 8 Rhodes&emsp;0&emsp;0&emsp;0&emsp;8&emsp;—&emsp;8 Avon&emsp;21&emsp;17&emsp;0&emsp;0&emsp;—&emsp;38 Scoring summary A — Nick Lombardy, 5 blocked punt return (Tyler Clark kick) A — Fin Jerdonek, 10 pass from Trevor Sykora (Jude Theibert kick) A — Michael Colburn, 123run (Clark kick) A — Theibert, 21 field goal A — Gavin Koehler, 20 pass from Sykora (Theibert kick) A — Jerdonek, 18 pass from Sykora (Clark kick) A — Caeden Bennett, 14 pass from Sykora (Theibert kick) R — Ty'lon Corpening, 80 run (Isaiah Dawson-Copley run)