Avon Lake Defeats Berea-Midpark 35-21 In Key SWC Clash

The Shoremen overcame a 14-0 first quarter deficit on the road to defeat Berea-Midpark 35-21. The Shoremen bounced back from a rough loss last week to Avon to improve to 4-1 while the Titans fell to 2-3.

Avon Lake was led by quarterback Jeremey Dzik who threw for 215 yards on 18 for 11 passing, with 2 touchdowns and an interception.  Dzik did it with his feet as well as he rushed for 42 yards on carries with a touchdown.

Staying with the quarterbacks, Berea-Midpark signal caller Troy Shick tossed for 237 yards on 17 of 32 passing with two touchdown tosses.  He also ran for 17 yards on 5 carries.  He had heavy pressure coming at him all night long, led by Avery Viancourt and the hungry Shoremen defense.  Viancourt, was in the backfield multiple times creating havoc.

Hudson Devins had himself a fine night as he was everywhere.  Devins ran for 63 yards on 14 carries, he also caught 6 balls for 51 yards and had multiple sacks on defense as well as a blocked punt.  He also scored once and seemed to be everywhere on that field tonight.

The main passing target of Troy Shick was Josh Medina who hauled in 7 balls for 133 yards and two touchdowns.  He also had an amazing diving catch in the endzone, but it was called back for an illegal man downfield.  Austin Clay hauled in two passes for 38 yards.

For Avon Lake, Matthew Stuewe continued to excel, he hauled in 7 catches for 113 yards. Stuewe continues to show true hands, and the ability to get open off tight coverage. Fellow wideout Keegan Rudduck hauled in touchdown catches from 16 and 26 yards.  Derek McCrum caught two balls for 17 yards while Issac Richardson caught two balls for 13 yards.

Wade Nelson led the ground game for the Shoremen with 73 yards on 18 attempts with a game sealing touchdown late.  Jason Krukowski had 42 yards and a score on 10 carries.

Hudson Devins of the Titans blocked the Shoremen punt after their drive stalled near midfield to start the game. This gave the Titans prime real estate to start their first drive of the game. They wasted no time after a few receptions by Josh Medina, set up Hudson Devins to pound it in from 3 yards and give the Titans a 7-0 lead with 8:27 to go.

After another Shoremen 3 and out, the Titans took over near their own 20, they went right back to work.  After a couple of nice plays moved it to the 33, it was a Shick to Medina slant over the middle that Medina found a speed lane and took it to the house for a 67-yard strike!

The Shoremen rebounded with a fantastic drive to close out the first quarter.  Dzik found Matthew and Luke Stuewe several times on the drive to place them in position to score.  They would put up their first points with a 16-yard touchdown toss from Dzik to Keegan Rudduck as the quarter ended 14-7.

After a shanked punt allowed the Shoremen to start a drive deep inside Titan territory, it didn’t take Avon Lake long to score. A sharp pass over the middle from Dzik was caught by Keegan Rudduck who made two spin moves on his way into the endzone for a diving score.  It was a tremendous play by Rudduck to tie the game at 14 with 5:09 remaining in the first half.

After a Titan three and out, the Shoremen took over at the Titan 48-yard line with 4 minutes to go in the half. They converted a crucial fourth and four with a Matthew Stuewe catch on the sidelines.  A Krukowski 14-yard run would put them in the red zone. A few players later Dzik took it in from 8 yards out with 56 ticks to go in the half.

A Tom Mordarski interception of Dzik midway through the third quarter, gave the Titans the ball at the Shoremen 40-yard line to start with. Back-to-back bruising runs by Hudson Devins placed the Titans at the 14-yard line. After a few plays went backwards, it was Troy Shick finding a diving Josh Medina over the middle wide open for a touchdown to tie the game.

The Shoremen used a steady diet of Wade Nelson rushing the ball, and smart choices by Dzik behind center, to march right back down the field.  In no time at all, it was Jason Krukowski cashing in with a 4 yard touchdown run to put the Shoremen back on top.

Midway through the fourth quarter, after holding the Titans on fourth down, the Shoremen took off for a two-play drive.  This time it was a 56-yard pass from Dzik to Matthew Stuewe followed up by a 14-yard touchdown run by Wade Nelson extending the Avon Lake lead to 35-21 with 8:21 to go. The Shoremen hung on from there for the 35-21 victory.

Next weekend Avon Lake returns home to host Midview while Berea-Midpark will host Amherst.

The Avon Lake player of the game is Jeremy Dzik with two passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and 215 yards passing.

The Berea-Midpark player of the game is Hudson Devins, with two sacks, a blocked punt and over 100 yards from scrimmage with a score.