by AVON, OH – The Avon Eagles have trailed three times in the fourth quarter this season, they are 3-0 in those games and now 9-0 on the season. They came back again tonight to win 38-28 over a very good Brecksville Broadview Heights Bee team.
This team finds a way to win in any situation, and are now 22-1 in the last two seasons, 34-3 in the last 3 seasons and 47-4 in the last four seasons. That is the definition of dominance as this senior class four-year record may be the greatest in SWC history.
The Eagles well balanced attack once again clicked with Niko Pappas leading the way behind center. This young man is a very special player on both sides of the ball as he showed once again tonight. Pappas finished with 195 yards passing on 12 of 21 attempts, with 2 touchdowns. He also used his legs by rushing 5 times for 109 yards with touchdown runs of 5 and 57 yards. The latter proved to be the go-ahead game winning score. Pappas is a five-tool player who will do it all!
Speaking of rushing, Devon Hunter had another solid performance. Hunter went for 122 yards on 18 carries. His rushing set up multiple scores. Fellow tailback Demond Kelly made the most of his three runs, as he picked up 40 yards including a 28-yard touchdown spring in which no one touched him.
If opposing coaches weren’t game planning to stop Tim Conwell, they might now as he showed up for the Eagles at the most important times. Conwell went off tonight as the Eagles secret weapon and finished with a blitzing 6 catches for 114 yards and the game sealing 27-yard touchdown catch! The Bee’s defense did a good job shutting down almost everyone else in the passing game, but Conwell got loose and made them pay.
One other Eagle also went off for a good night in the passing attack and that was of no surprise to anyone. Michael Ptacek hauled in 4 passes for 80 yards and a 55-yard touchdown. Avon will now host Avon Lake in a rematch of the instant classic from Week One.
Brecksville Bee quarterback and Iowa commit Joey Labas was under pressure all night because of the relentless pass rush of the Eagles, however he still had a good game and proved why he will be a force at Iowa.
I will not be surprised if we are watching Labas play on Sundays one day in about 5 years. He finished with 239 yards passing on 16 of 29 passing and 1 touchdown.
He also rushed for 2 touchdowns on 7 carries. Labas showed the skills tonight and this season that will make him a success in the Big 10 as early as next year. The stats weren’t gigantic tonight, but he has the raw potential that should take him far.
His main threat as always, was Garrett Kubitz who can absolutely do it all. Kubitz put up 199 yards on the ground, with 31 carries to get him there along with a touchdown. Labas and Kubitz make a great one two combination and when you mix in Jeremy Jonozzo, they were one of the best three-man attacks in the OHSAA this season.
Jannozzo continued his big postseason run with 8 catches for 117 yards, finding the endzone once. Good luck to all three young men in college as they played their final game tonight.
After forcing the Eagles to punt on the opening drive, the Bee’s used 66 yards from Garrett Kubitz to set up a short yardage goal to go that Joey Labas punched in for from a yard out to give them a 7-0 lead.
The rest of the first quarter was all Eagles as the used a 45-yard field goal Nathan Vakos and a 28-yard Desmond Kelly touchdown run to take a 10-7 lead after one quarter of play.
After the Bee’s re-took the lead with a 3-yard touchdown run from Joey Labas, the Eagles went back to work. The Eagles bounced back quickly less than 2 minutes later on a 55-yard touchdown pass from Pappas to Ptacek. Everytime the Bee’s held a lead in this game, they wouldn’t have it long.
Down 17-14, the Bee’s looked as though they would either tie the game or take the lead as they had the ball inside of the Avon Eagle three-yard line with less than 3 minutes to go in the half. They couldn’t punch it in and when Avon got the ball back, they proceeded to go on a 99-yard touchdown drive capped off by a Pappas 5-yard touchdown run to take a 24-14 lead into the half.
The Bee’s came out in the second half and controlled the clock and ball. They opened the half by going on a near six-minute drive, resulting in a 1-yard Kubitz touchdown run. The drive saw several third down conversions and even a fourth down one as well.
After the Eagles failed to respond, the Bees’s did it again and after another long drive carried over into the fourth quarter, a 20-yard touchdown pass from Labas to Jonozzo gave them a 28-24 lead with 11:08 to go in the game.
Like it had been the case all game, the Bee lead wouldn’t last long as less than 2 minutes later a 57-yard touchdown run from Niko Pappas put the Eagles back up 31-28. That’s when things got a little “sketchy” for a brief moment.
Shockingly, Avon went for an onside kick and it clearly appeared that Kaya Yonkers recovered it. It was a gutsy move by coach Mike Elder and appeared to pay off. The referee didn’t see it that way and awarded the ball to the Bee’s. They couldn’t cash in on the break and moments later fumbled the ball back to Avon.
About 5 minutes later, the Eagles drove the nail in the coffin with a 27-yard Tim Conwell touchdown catch at the 3:34 mark to put it away 38-28. The Eagles will now host the Shoremen next week for a shot at the final four in the state. Expect a full preview of that game to come out later this week.
Players of the game
BBHS RB Garrett Kubitz with 199 yards and a touchdown.
Avon QB Niko Pappas with over 300 combined yards in the air and ground with 4 total touchdowns.
Special shoutout to Avon Safety Mitchell Dupras who had an amazing game and seemed to be in on every tackle or pass breakup all night long.
