by The new biggest tradition in Avon is to win the conference championship in every sport. This is no stranger to football, as the Eagles soared past the Elyria pioneers 55-7 Friday night.
The night started with a bang for Avon. On the second play from scrimmage, Elyria QB Zach Fury threw for a receiver on the outside, but the pass was picked off by Bryce Chura inside Pioneer territory. From there, Eagle Running Back Dean Andress ran for a 24-yard carry and then had a five-yard carry that he took into the end zone for a touchdown to give Avon a 7-0 lead early.
Elyria took the ball and went for it on fourth down, but the pass was incomplete and the ball went right back to Avon. On the next play, Eagles QB Trevor Sykora found his favorite target Fin Jerdonik for a 32-yard gain and Jerdonik juked his way through the defender for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead for the Eagles.
On the ensuing kickoff, Elyria took it for a good gain but was immediately offset when they fumbled and lost it and gave it right back to the eagles. After a hard run from Ryan Pesta, new QB Casey birth found Gavin Koehler for a 30-yard connection and a 21-0 lead for more comfort.
Elyria finally had some offense going with runs from Fury and Jarius Martin but then stalled after another incompletion on fourth down gave the ball right back to the Eagles. The Eagles could not do anything with it and went three and out. Elyria went three and out and punted, which Avon took for a good return. On the next play, Sykora found TE Grayden Beerbohm for a 36-yard connection and a touchdown to extend the lead to 28-7.
Martin and DaRon Johnson helped the Pioneer offense do something on the night with some fast and aggressive runs. On fourth down, Johnson ran right into a rugby scrum on the line of scrimmage but then found a way out of it for a 41 yard touchdown run to bring the lead to 28-7.
Avon responded after the score with a good return on the ensuing kickoff. After catches From Caeden Bennett and Jackson Palmer, new RB Ryan Pesta took a toss and ran right into the end zone to extend the lead to 35-7
Elyria had some momentum going with a big Fury to Zaedin Fenderson connection that gave them light, but some negative runs set them up for a tough fourth down conversion that they did not get. Avon took the ball and gave Camden Bly some touches that he made into a 45-yard run to put the Eagles in the red zone. On the next play, Birth rolled out to the left to find Caeden Bennett for a 5-yard touchdown pass and extended the lead to 42-7.
Elyria then took the ball and had some positive plays, with Fenderson and Johnson doing most of the work. They could not do anything as halftime came up on them.
The Second Half went through with a running clock going for the entire time. Avon took advantage of it and kept the ball for most of the third quarter. Bly and many direct snaps to linemen Michael LaCivita and Cameron Dietz ran the ball for Avon well to keep the ball and the clock running. After runs from Griffin Schindley and a big catch from Noah Behymer, Dietz took the Direct handoff and ran the ball into the end zone for a touchdown bringing the score to 49-7.
A big connection for 42 yards from Fury to Martin gave the Pioneers some hope for the next drive, but the Eagle defense forced the turnover on downs and took the ball right back.
Avon took the ball for the rest of the night to give the backups some moments they did not forget. Passing Connections from Chase Hazen to Zach Leska and great runs from Grady Dominik, Kyle Bracy and Lincoln Clapham helped set up a Hazen to Leska connection for a touchdown in which Leska went up for the ball and took it away from the Pioneer defender over the head for a 55-7 lead. The 55-7 score became the final score as the clock ran out before Avon could kick the extra point.
Congratulations to Avon Football and their program for their conference championship.
Avon finishes the regular season 8-2 and awaits their opponent to start their playoff run on November 6th. Elyria finishes their season 0-10
Player of the Game
Elyria- Daron Johnson and Jarius Martin- great runs to give the Pioneer offense something to work with, Johnson with phenomenal a run to get Elyria on the board
Avon- Mike Elder- Keeps the football team dominant year after year with great results and a phenomenal culture in which his players buy into to turn them into great men after their playing days are over.
