by Avon is already starting its playoff preparations as the Eagles defeated the Amherst Comets 45-7 in front of a packed Wahlberg Stadium Friday night.
Amherst took the opening kickoff and got into good field position. From there, Avon stopped two runs from Comets Running back Xavior Champion. On third down, Comets Quarterback Anthony Passarello had the first pass on the night intercepted by Avon DB Fin Jerdonik and he took it to the Comets 7-yard line. On the next play, Avon Running Back Michael Colburn took a handoff and ran it to the end zone for 7 yards to score the first touchdown on the night and to give a 7-0 lead to the Eagles.
Champion and Passarello had a couple of good runs from 8 and 17 yards to start the next drive for the Comets, but Champion was quickly stuffed on four straight runs and caused a turnover on downs to give the ball back to the Eagles offense.
On Avon’s first real offensive possession, Quarterback Trevor Sykora started the night by finding tight end Grayden Beerbohm and Jerdonik for some nice catches to get the ball moving. After a few Colburn runs and a holding penalty, Sykora scrambled around on a drop back and found the end zone from 19 yards out to extend the Eagle lead to 14-0.
Amherst went three and out on their next possession. This became a theme all night as the passing game could not get going without their best receiver Jack Coleman, who was out with an injury.
Avon took advantage of that and even though they were deep in their own territory. Avon got some offense with a Sykora to Jerdonik bomb on third down to get them into Comet territory. After an incompletion, Sykora found Jerdonik again and he weaved his way through the Comets defense for a 20-yard touchdown reception to widen the score to 21-0.
Avon then forced another Amherst fourth down, but Avon DB Nick Lombardy blocked a Josh Tomlin Punt for the comets. As the ball was on the ground, Tomlin picked it up and found some daylight to give the Comets a first down and new life on offense. The Comet offense stalled again to a fourth down and Lombardy blocked the punt again but was able to recover it this time and give the Eagles good field position.
This time the Eagles got Colburn going on a 3-yard gain. After an Incompletion, Colburn took the ball to the house for a 33-yard rushing score to extend the lead to 28-0.
The Eagle’s Defense was on the Comet’s run game all night. On Amherst’s next possession RB Dylan Popovich was getting negative yards on his runs before making the Comet punt more manageable. Avon then started the next dive with a Sykora to Beerbohm connection that helped the Eagles get into good field position. Runs from Luke Pavey and Ryan Pesta helped another Jerdonik touchdown catch from 6 yards out and in the back of the end zone to extend the Eagle lead to 35-0
On the Kickoff, Avon kicked a squib kick and was able to kick it right off of Anthony Litz of Amherst and recovered the ball and gave Avon the ball right back. On the next play, Sykora found Jerdonik raced by the Comet DB and into the end zone for a 60 Yard connection for a touchdown and gave the Eagles a 42-0 lead into halftime.
The second half ran with a running clock for the entire time and Avon took advantage when they took the opening kickoff to start it. Guys like Receiver Bryce Chura and Caeden Bennett took catches from new QB Casey Birth for their turns to make some good plays. Then RBs Pesta, RJ Ross, and Griffin Schindley took turns running the ball for good gains for highlights of their own. This would all lead to a Landon Vega field goal from 17 yards out to make the Eagle lead 45-0.
Amherst Receiver Christian Vorhees took the kickoff after the field goal was able to get into the Eagle 5-yard line. After a couple of stuffed runs for losses and a delay of game from the Comet offense after the timeout, the Eagles were able to complete the goal line stand after a Passarello to Bryce Colvin catch was stopped short of the end zone.
An Avon holding penalty on their next possession after the stop prevented any new offense from going anywhere and were forced to punt. After three Popovich runs for Amherst that resulted in a fourth down, Passarello was able to take a QB sneak and bounced off a couple of Eagles Backups to run into the end zone from 46 yards out to give the Comets their only score of the night and make the score 45-7. Avon ran out the clock to make the 45-7 score official and to give the win to the Eagles.
Avon travels to Avon Lake with their annual rivalry matchup with the Shoremen for week 9, as Amherst will host North Ridgeville for their final home game of the regular season.
Players of the Game:
Amherst- Anthony Passarello; 46-yard touchdown run and his leadership kept the Comets in the game.
Avon- Fin Jerdonik; one interception and three receiving touchdowns, helped the Eagles put the game in cruise control from the start and helped keep that way all night.
