by VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF
OHSAA Division II State Final: Avon Eagles vs. Anderson
Avon captured their second consecutive OHSAA Div II State Championship with a convincing 37-20 victory over Anderson. Young Jeremiah Kelley who passed away this past spring had to have been smiling down from heaven watching his teammates celebrate tonight as they capped off an incredible 14-1 season with the title!
Game MVP Avon Eagle quarterback Blake Elder had a game for the ages with an incredible 4 touchdown passes to 4 different receivers as he finished 12 of 18 for 216 yards. This caps a wonderful season for the senior quarterback.
Elders top receivers were Fin Jerdonek with 4 catches for 45 yards and a score. Grant Burr had 3 catches for 75 yards with a touchdown as Caden Clapham finished with 2 for 52 with a touchdown while Cam Wendell had 1 catch for 41 yards . Bennett had one catch for a 7-yard score.
While the air game was soaring for the Eagles, so was the ground game as top tailback Quiante Smith proved to be unstoppable. The dynamic back went for 180 yards on 31 carries with 1 touchdown.
Andersons top threat on the night was the qb to wr combination of Owen Scalf throwing to Weaver connection. Scalf finished by going 32 of 47 for 376 yards and 2 touchdowns. His top threat was Weaver who pulled in 11 passes for 125 yards with a touchdown as well.
Avon started off hot and never looked back as they scored twice in the opening quarter to take the lead and keep it for good. Both scores coming on the arm of quarterback Blake Elder with touchdown passes to Jerdonek of 15 yards and Clapham of 22 yards. They used the same quarter to shutout the Raptors and take a 14-0 lead into the second quarter.
The Eagles began the second quarter the same way they finished the first by opening up the air with points. This time it was a 7-yard toss to Bennett that put the Raptors in a serious hole, down 21-0 with 9:32 left in the half. The Raptors did manage to cut into the lead by half with a Scalf one yard rush. However, Avon wasn’t done yet either and scored one more time on a 37-yard touchdown pass to Barr as Elder had 4 touchdown passes to 4 different receivers. This allowed the Eagles to take a commanding 27-7 lead into break.
Down big to start the second half, the Raptors attempted to rally on their opening drive with a touchdown pass from 12 yards out to Moore to cut into the lead at 27-13. Shortly after, they stopped the Eagles on downs and has some life. It proved to be fleeting however as the Eagles scored on Smith run to end the third quarter up 34-13.
Once again, the Raptors were down big to start a quarter and once again scored, to begin a comeback attempt. This score coming courtesy of a 7-yard touchdown pass to Weaver to cut into the lead at 34-20 with 11:15 to play. The Eagles hung on from there for the 37-20 win which included a 30 yard field goal from Petro.
