by Avon – It’s time for some OHSAA football playoff action. The SWC champions Avon Eagles (10-0) took on the North Olmsted Eagles (5-5) in the first round of playoffs. Avon came in sporting the #1 seed in Division 2’s Region 6. North Olmsted snuck into the playoffs and grabbed the #16 spot. Avon took down North Olmsted by a score of 47 to 12 in the battle of the birds.
First Half
North Olmsted received the opening kickoff but was not able to get anything done offensively as they went 3 and out after grabbing two false start penalties. Avon took over offensively and would drive down the field but were stalled at the 32-yard line. They sent out senior kicker #92 Owen Warrick kicked it in for Avon, grabbing the first points of the game.
North Olmsted’s offense then tried to get further down the field, but this drive would not be able to get across midfield and they would be forced to punt. Avon’s offense would methodically drive down the field and their drive would be capped off with an 11-yard pass from senior quarterback #5 Nolan Good to a wide-open junior wideout #11 Grant Barr.
North Olmsted knew that they needed to get the offense going which would happen off a 30-yard run by senior #24 Matthew Chalkwater. Chalkwater helped North Olmsted get into the red zone for the first time tonight but would also fumble the ball allowing the Avon defense to get the stop and the ball back. Avon’s offense knew what to do and drove down the field. On this drive senior wideout #8 Matt Maxey would break Avon High School’s career receiving yards record, congratulations Matt Maxey! #5 Good would keep the ball for himself and run in the 3-yard touchdown to cap off the drive.
North Olmsted got a drive started and took the ball just past midfield on the legs on #24 Chalkwater. They would be stalled out by Avon’s defense though, and would be forced to punt. The Avon offense would waste no time as #5 Good would pass it to junior tight end #23 Killian Haessig for a 39-yard gain. Then a 7-yard run by junior running back #7 Quiante’ Smith.
Avon kicked it off and their special teams would pin North Olmsted on the 9-yard line. The Avon defense would come up big, first stopping the run play, then forcing a safety. Avon would then receive the ball and run it down the field with senior running back #16 Tyler Kaufmann would run it down the sideline to get a 24-yard touchdown. North Olmsted would power up their offense and be able to drive it down the field utilizing their running back duo of #8 Micheal Passfiume and #24 Chalkwater. While they relied on the ground game to get there, senior quarterback #10 Tommy Horsefall would air it out to junior wide receiver #21 Dennis DJ Jefferies for the 32-yard touchdown reception. The Avon defense would not hold up though as they block the point after.
Avon’s offense drove down the field and #5 Good would drop it off short to #8 Maxey who would juke his way around North Olmsted’s defense for a 50-yard touchdown. North Olmsted tried to get something going before the end of the half offensively but was stopped by the Avon defense, stopping North Olmsted from crossing into the red zone. The teams would go into the half Avon 40, North Olmsted 6.
Second Half
Avon received the opening kickoff and sent out #12 Grant Barr to be the quarterback. #12 Barr completed a quick pass to #23 Haessig, for 27 yards. Then he completed a 4-yard pass to #3 Alex Huguley for a touchdown. North Olmsted would waste no time on getting their own points on the board. Quarterback #10 Horsfall faked out everyone, keeping the ball to go in for a 67-yard touchdown. The Avon defense would strike again as #0 Josiah Sanders blocked the attempt.
Avon would receive the ball and send in another quarterback, but the offense was forced to punt. North Olmsted started to drive down the field but was stalled out by the Avon defense. Avon’s offense would fumble and turn the ball over to North Olmsted. North Olmsted, unable to get anything done offensively, would run the clock out. Avon 47, North Olmsted 12.
Players of The Game:
Player of the game for Avon was senior quarterback #5 Nolan Good. In just the first half, he totaled 241 yards over the air, completed 10 of 15 passes, got 2 passing touchdowns, and 1 touchdown on the ground.
Player of the game for North Olmsted was senior running back #24 Matthew Chalkwater. On 16 rushing attempts, he totaled rushing 108 yards.
#1 Avon (11-0) will rematch conference opponent #8 Olmsted Falls (8-3) in the second round of the OHSAA Playoffs at home on 11/8 with kickoff slated for 7:00 pm.
