Are The Avon Eagles A Team Of Destiny This Season?

Zechariah 4-6: “Not by strength, not by might, but by his spirit, We have already claimed victory in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

AVON,Ohio – Last year on a freezing cold Black Friday night, while the rest of the state was at home or shopping, crazed fans packed Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium. While many walked away that evening with images of how good Hoban looked, I walked away that evening with a much different memory and image. That was the Avon players going up into the stands to hug their parents’ pre-game.

I’d have never seen something like that before, and I was blown away by it. I covered their game the prior year against Hoban, and well over 20 of their games over the last 4 plus years, yet, this was a first.

Perhaps the other times I wasn’t paying attention or checking pre game notes, but this time it leapt out at me and has been burned in my memory ever since. It was class, pure class!

For the past 18 years the New England Patriots have been the class of the NFL. It doesn’t matter who gets hurt, who gets traded or leaves in free agency, they just keep winning! The Avon Eagles have adopted that same concept, making the SWC theirs since 2016.

The groundwork for head coach Mike Elders and the schools dominance was laid out well before then, but the last four years have really proven that a positive culture, strong play in the trenches and attention to detail can overcome anything.

People have doubted them at times, I’m no stranger to that, picking Avon Lake to win last weekend in the much-anticipated rematch.

Without Nick Perusek, Danny Zeh and Niko Pappas playing, it almost seemed certain that this magical run may finally end, but Elder’s Eagles proved once again that they were up to any challenge!

Wide Receiver Noah Mangan gives his take on why they have been able to remain successful despite getting bit with the injury bug this season, “All of the adversity we’ve faced this year has brought the team closer together.  No matter who is in the game we’ve built a culture where we al trust each other to give 100% on every play to do their job.” 

To understand this year’s flight of the Eagles, one must start at the beginning. Opening week, a razor thin 13-12 victory over cross rail rivals Avon Lake. The win brought them home the Silver Rail trophy and avenged last years defeat.

It would be their only close game for the next 12 weeks. Since then, they have rolled off 12 straight with an average margin of victory in those 12 games of 30 points each.

Keep in mind a few of these outstanding stats, they had wins of 36, 56, 62, 31, 35 and 28 points during that stretch as well. Some of those would have been even larger had it not been for the mandatory running clock once they got up by 30. Also, the Lakewood game was called off early because of thunder and lightning.

But it goes beyond that, this team is loaded and deep and it has never been more proven than this season that has been riddled with injuries.

They lost All State running back Nick Perusek after week six but have not slowed down since. In the next six wins they have won 38 -7 over North Olmsted, 48-13 over North Ridgeville, 24-14 over Olmsted Falls, and 49-13 over Amherst to close out the regular season.

Then, the injury bug would strike again but as always, it wouldn’t hold back this team. This time it was quarterback Danny Zeh who went down forcing Pappas to step up. He did just that in a big opening round of the playoffs win over Wooster 33-13.

The following week against a great Benedictine team, Pappas would go down, forcing the Eagles to rely on a strong run game under third string quarterback Chase Myers.

They used an incredible running attack led by Devon Hunter to cage the Bengals 49-28. Hunter went off for 200 plus yards and five touchdowns.

Then last week, with the best defense in the state Avon Lake coming at them, starting a third string quarterback and all odd’s facing them, coach Elder drew up a genius game plan to lead them past the Shoremen.

It was 3-3 deep into the third when the Eagles once again began to soar. They rattled off 17 straight points to close out the game, including a pick six by Mike Matlak to put it away.

In that game, stepping up to break the 3-3 deadlock was Joey Lance who flew down the sidelines from 58 yards to break the tie. The Eagles never looked back and now face their toughest test of the season this weekend against Massillon at Byers Field in Parma.

Long gone are the years of Ryan Maloy and a three deep backfield running past teams with little to no challenge. This team is winning with defense, smart play and a culture that just keeps breeding success. For Elder and the Eagles, it may be lonely at the top, but where else would you rather be? History is written by the winners.

Wide Receiver slash do it all player Joey Lance had this to share, “This team has come closer together through it all. All these injuries is just making us play for those guys that can’t play. We are just grinding for another week together.”

Now, their toughest test, the Tigers, a football rich city with a ravenous fan base just chomping at the bits to end the Eagles dream run. Once again, the odd’s seem large and Friday night may be a long one for the squad, but who in their right mind would count this team out?

As I said last week, they have only lost 3 times since 2017, and 2 of those are against Hoban, a team good enough to win Division One state championships.

I spoke with Danny Zeh who had this to say about the culture that keeps producing,

The table is set, and the drama will be thick. My advice to anyone watching is don’t count the Eagles out. Their game will be this Friday at 7pm in Parma at Byers Field.

This will not be the first time this season that the Eagles have been featured by KEE On Sports Media Group. For more on our personal history covering the Eagles, simply turn to page two.

Cover photo courtesy of The Village Newspaper